Shattered Dreams
by iamzoy
Summary: Depression has set into Finn as his life appears to be crumbling around him. Desperate to stop himself from hurting, and for him to not hurt anyone else in the process, he leaves Ooo to embark on his own adventure.
1. Leaving Home

**Shattered Dreams**

The rising sun graced the sky with a variety of colours. Pink tinged the scattering of clouds while a darker red prevailed around the outskirts. The night sky was slowly transforming from its dark blue, to the lighter blue belonging to the day. The amber glow of the sun was beginning to peak its head in the horizon. All of this natural beauty was lost on Finn.

Depression had sunk into the young hero's mind. Although he was staring into the powerful wonder of the sunrise, he was stuck in the monotony of it all. ' _Glob, why does this always happen to me. First Bubblegum and now Flame Princess as well.'_ Finn pondered. He could not however stop his thoughts from delving into darker places. ' _It's all my fault, there must be something wrong with me.'_

Finn got unsteadily to his feet. Moving towards the Treehouse, he continued to let his thoughts fester. _'I can't expect them to love me if I can't be what I want to be. I should have been a better boyfriend to Flame Princess, I should have treated her better. And maybe if I wasn't so immature, PB could have loved me back. If I wasn't such an idiot I'd be happy now.'_

Arriving at the front door of the Treehouse. Finn took a moment to compose himself. Normally the feel of returning home would be welcoming, but in his current funk, Finn felt nothing. All the good memories of the place seemed to have been moved to a dormant part of his mind, a part he felt, he would never access again.

After a minute of silent staring Finn finally reached for the handle of the door. He was greeted by the smell of bacon and eggs frying away in the kitchen.

"Jake?" Finn called out before remembering that Jake had spent the night at Lady Rainicron's. _'Must be BMO then.'_ Finn thought to himself. Deciding to see if his suspicions were true, Finn walked through the treasure room and climbed the ladder with ease to find the small robot cooking away on the stove. Hearing Finn approach BMO turned to talk with a huge grin.

"Finn! I wondered where you'd run off too, I made you breakfast!" BMO excitedly told Finn. Despite the awful mood that prevailed over Finn recently he could not help but smile slightly at the little robots enthusiastic greetings. It helped ever so slightly to know that people other than family cared for him. Although by this point, BMO was as good as family. As he settled himself down to eat, Finn's little companion started the conversation again.

"You haven't been yourself recently, so I thought that I would cheer you up by making breakfast." Although he appreciated the sentiment, Finn could not help but grimace at the reminder that he was struggling. He must have made his discomfort obvious, as BMO picked up on it in an instant.

"I'm sorry Finn. I didn't mean to upset you. I'll just get out of your way." BMO's saddened expression cut at the very centre of Finn's heart. The all too familiar feelings of guilt, remorse and self-loathing, filled his very being. How could he hurt someone who was just trying to help? Someone who he cared for so deeply. It just made Finn despise himself even more.

"Wait BMO don't go, come on we can have breakfast together." Finn blurted out in desperation. He appreciated what was being done for him. Finn used the last of his fraying emotions to try and convey to his friend just how much he needed the enthusiasm and care. Seeing the look of absolute need on Finn's face, BMO's hurting vanished in an instant. With a glowing smile, the robot returned to the table where it had artfully presented the food. Taking a seat opposite Finn, BMO began to watch Finn lift a morsel of food and smiled as the hero swiftly swallowed it down.

"Mmm BMO, this is math!" The robot gained a pixelated blush from the praise that Finn had lavished on it. It meant a lot to little console. _'I just want to help my friend.'_ BMO thought. It was a creed that gave the robot such a lovable disposition, and by this point in its life, it was permanently imprinted on its hard drive. BMO would do anything for Finn and Jake. They were family.

Finn smiled at BMO and whispered, "Between you and me, I may just have to replace Jake as the cook. This maybe better than his food!" Not being able to handle any more compliments, BMO squealed and ran out of the room. Chuckling to himself Finn proceeded to finish the wonderful fare that his robotic friend had provided. However without BMO there to keep him company, the food began to turn bitter in his mouth. He was alone again. Alone with his thoughts.

Forcing himself to finish his breakfast was proving difficult. His appetite had left the room with BMO. The robots efforts to cheer him up had been in vain. His thoughts again sought to pull him into the spiralling abyss of depression, trapping him inside his own mind. Looking down, Finn realised that he had finally finished his meal. Anxious to keep his mind from wondering, he quickly gathered his plate and cutlery, dumping them in the sink for later. Not knowing what else to do, Finn decided to take a quick nap due to the early hour he had awoken. Moving towards the ladder, he decided that a rest would be of benefit for now. He could go adventuring or something similar later.

The nap was a mistake. His thoughts started toying with him as soon as he lay himself down. Sleep had deserted him. It seemed that it made a deal with his mind and they were working in tandem to torment him.

"Useless, pathetic, irresponsible." A voice sounding like his own whispered in his mind.

"They don't love you. You were a burden. Nothing more than a child who's attention seeking immaturity they had to satisfy. You are a failure to your friends and family. You can't call yourself a hero. You're not even a sidekick. You're the one that risks the lives of everyone with his own foolish actions. You're the curse of the tale, the one the story doesn't need!"

These were but a few of the words the voice whispered to Finn, repeating everything over and over, even the volume increased until it was all he could hear. Then just at Finn's breaking point he heard it. The laugh. The laugh that was the cause of his scream of pure turmoil as he lurched forward out of the bed.

BMO climbed swiftly up the ladder, the robot had heard Finn scream and rushed to find the source. What the robot discovered, would be a source of pain for the rest of its life. BMO found Finn roaming around his room, packing random items whist tears spilt from his eyes. He kept muttering "Can't stay, they won't leave, too painful." All while throwing different items of clothing into his bag. BMO had never seen Finn acting so strangely and the green console was starting to feel its concern increase. It decided it could not do nothing and decided to try and find out what had caused a treasured friend to break down. BMO called out in a voice cracking with concern and caution, and even a hint of fear.

"Finn?"

The voice ground Finn to a sudden halt. He almost seemed scared as he levelled his penetrating gaze at BMO. His eyes bored into his friend, freezing the robot in place. They both stood like statues, eyes locked onto each other's, frozen in time. The only things that moved were the tears that continuously fell from Finn's eyes. Then in an instant, the moment ended. Finn went back wo work with a half-crazed vigour, minus the muttering.

BMO was close to panic now, Finn had not responded to its cry of concern. His reaction was frightening, almost crazy, and to add to the meltdown, it appeared that he was finished in the bedroom and was moving towards the kitchen. Finn continued his mission throwing different foods into his bag, he was ignoring the robot again and BMO could not stand it any longer.

"Finn please look at me! What are you doing? Why are you packing?"

These questions seemed to finally half Finn's mad dash around the house. He spun around to face the companion of so many years. Memories of finding his friend, movie nights, video games and even trips to various kingdoms flew clearly through Finn's mind. He knew that he would miss the tiny robot, but this was something he had to do. He was not sure what he would do if he stayed. He theorized that whatever would happen, staying would cause his family, and himself, undue pain. With all this weighing on his mind, Finn finally graced BMO's pleas with an answer.

"I'm leaving BMO. And I don't know when I will be back."

The words Finn said left BMO feeling as if it had been hit by lightning. That all of its circuitry had been overloaded by electricity all at once. Finn may as well have disowned the lovable console and cast it out to fend for itself. Although BMO could not cry real tears, it was giving it all it had at the news thrust upon it. The robot looked directly into Finn's eyes before uttering its desperate plea.

"NO! You can't! I need you here, Jake needs you! You can't leave us, you can't leave me!" The words only served to strengthen Finn's conviction. He was hurting people again; he was causing pain to those he loved. He had to leave He had to stop this.

"I'm sorry BMO, I'm so sorry, but I have to do this." The robots reply was instantaneous.

"No! I won't let you go! I'll stop you if I have to! Please don't leave me Finn you're one of my best friends! My fami-" BMO entered hibernation mode as Finn had hastily crossed the room and switched the robots mode. The words that BMO were saying were wounding him more severely than any monster he had faced, even more so than the Lich.

"Bye BMO."

Finn spoke his last goodbye to his friend knowing full well that it could not hear him. It did not trouble Finn though, the robot would be awake in a couple of hours and he would be far away, hopefully to never hurt it again. Finn turned back to his bag to find he had everything he needed. That left only one more thing left to do. Leave an explanation for Jake.

Finn was struggling to find the right words to say to his brother. He had been at work meticulously for half an hour and only came up with a handful of words. The right words just kept eluding him, dangling close then fleeing when he finally reached out for them. Finn began to question the necessity of an explanation. Feeling that not explaining was the right course of action due to how much of an inconvenient trouble-maker he was, Finn snatched up his travelling gear and headed for the door.

As he grasped the handle inspiration struck. Rushing back to the table, Finn finally wrote his explanation and farewell. Glad with the results of his endeavours, Finn stood and toured the Treehouse for what he felt could be the final time. Moving to the outside, Finn started to head south through the Grasslands, however a deep rooted feeling would not allow him to venture to far from his home without a goodbye. Turning under the midday sun, Finn took in the Treehouse one final time. What seemed like hours was the work of but a few moments as Finn viewed his home, engraving the image in his mind. A single tear fell as Finn sighed deeply before turning and starting his journey.

"I guess it's adventure time."

Jake was on top of the world. He adored spending time with Lady Rainicorn, she was slowly turning into his everything. She had given him five wonderful children, all of which were growing up rapidly. He could not help but feel his pride surge for his pups. All of this was turning Jake into a family man, a notion he strongly denied despite the evidence to the contrary. His days of adventuring looked to be over, however thoughts of adventuring had brought up the ever-present worry for his brother.

Finn had grown distant to Jake over the past three months or so. Jake knew that it was not due to his increased time spent at Lady's. He had been visiting for years and it never seemed to bother Finn. Jake knew it was something to do with Flame Princess. What irked him the most however, was how Finn did not discuss the issue with him. Since the day Finn learned to talk, the brothers had been nigh inseparable, always having each other's backs no matter what came their way. Yet Finn seemed to forget all that as he dropped into his sorrow.

In the past couple of months, Finn's actions had grown, frankly bizarre. He knew that he could tell Jake anything and his brother would listen free from judgement. Yet he had not come to Jake with anything. Conversations with his brother had grown slightly awkward. At first Finn attempted to respond to the dog, but as days past, he began using single word answers. Eventually, he just responded with grunts and the occasional gesture.

His adventuring had taken a battering too. Lately, all Finn seemed to do was sit around all day and play BMO. It even seemed that he had forgotten basic necessities. He abstain from showering for days on end, just sitting in the same spot wallowing in his own filth. Other days Jake would not even see Finn. He had no idea where the human vanished to but it worried the canine. He did not thing that Finn even gave much time to eat.

"This needs to stop!" Jake muttered to himself as he begun to cross the Grasslands on his way home.

"I've been silent on this for long enough! I need him to know that I'm worried for him; he needs to know I care. As soon as I get home, I'll talk to him. Even if we don't make great progress, I'll be patient, Every little bit of my bro I get back will be worth it." With renewed vigour, the canine headed ever quicker for home.

Standing a small distance to the south from the Treehouse, Jake could not help but crack a smile. He really did love his home. Sighing deeply, he let the good memories roll over him. Most of them involving adventures, and misadventures of himself and Finn. Jake frowned slightly at the thought of his brother and what he had to do. Steeling himself for the confrontation ahead, Jake bounded through the last few yards with ease. Throwing open the door the yellow canine yelled out,

"Finn?! We need to talk man. Right now!" Expecting and answer, Jake waited in silence, but he did not hear an answer. He heard something else entirely.

Sobbing, Jake swore he could hear sobbing; Diving for the ladder the canine rushed up them, damning the consequences and the danger of what he may have faced. He needed to know that his brother was okay, he would never forgive himself if Finn broke down and he was not there for him. What he found shocked the magical being. BMO was bawling its eyes out, pixelated tears were streaming down its face constantly, never stopping in their wild course down the robots face. Its eyes were closed as if the very thought of sight was too painful a gift. The console was in a state of absolute hysteria.

"Gob BMO what's wrong!? Why are you crying like that!?" Jake did not mean to be quite as demanding as he did, yet what he was seeing was terrifying him. BMO had never lost control quite so drastically before. No response was forthcoming though, as the robot resumed it crying as if its primary function in life had been switched to mourn.

Jake looked widely around as if trying to find some way of comforting the console from the air around them, it was then that the dog noticed a singular piece of paper lying on the table. Moving slowly towards it, the canine gained a deep gnawing sense of foreboding, something was not right. After an eternity he reached the single sheet. Picking it up he began to read.

 _Dear Jake_

 _I know this will come as a shock to you but it is something that I had to do. I'm leaving Jake. This will be difficult for you but please accept this, I don't want you coming after me. If I didn't do this I would have become a shadow of myself. I could feel myself slipping away every day and I reached my breaking point. I don't want to be the person that hates themselves, who can't face themselves in the mirror. I'm at that point Jake, and it frightens me._

 _Like this I can't be the hero of Ooo. I failed Ooo and all its people. I can't defend them anymore They deserve some righteous and pure, not tainted like me. I failed you Jake, I'm a terrible brother and adventuring partner. I've been nothing but a thorn in your side, blocking you off from your family. With me gone you'll finally be able to commit to them. I've failed BMO, I couldn't be the friend our little sibling needed. All I've done is cause my family worry and grief. My disappearance will cure you of that. I've failed Marceline, I haven't been the friend she needs and deserves. I haven't been to any jam sessions and we haven't even hung out as much as we did. It's all my fault, she's been through so much and all I've done is bring her more pain. She doesn't deserve that, she never deserved that. Hopefully with me gone she can find some happiness._

 _I've failed PB, I was her knight, her champion, and all I did was distract her with my immaturity and foolish crush. She deserves a better protector for her people and a champion who can do the job with no distractions. I've failed the girl I will always have in my heart, yet if I've remained in hers, I don't deserve that honour. Flame Princess was a passionate, beautiful person who I only manipulated and hurt in the name of a dumb Cosmic Owl dream. She needed someone to commit to her fully to unlock her potential to be the most amazing woman in the world. All I did though was crush her heart and hurt her. I can't be forgiven for it._

 _In failing Flame Princess I failed my heart, and in turn, myself. I can't call myself a hero anymore, in fact, at this moment, I am barley even a human. I don't know if I'll come back, this journey maybe my last. I may even be able to find a place to settle down and forget that I'm a failure to the people I love the most. I hope the rest of your life is algerbraic bro. Glob knows you deserve that much. I'm going to set off now. This land was too good for me._

 _With regrets,_

 _Finn._

Jake did not know how to react to what he just read. He wanted to shout, cry and scream all at once, but could not quite find the voice to do any of it. Instead he just moved to the sofa next to the still crying BMO, and sat starring into the night's sky.

Marceline was flying towards the Treehouse at top speed. She had not seen Finn in almost three months and she was not amused. It was too long since they had chilled out with a movie or jammed some amazing songs and the Vampire Queen did not appreciate being forced from her home to find her wayward friend. She would never admit it but she was concerned, she had heard about his break up with Flame Princess and his apparent erratic behaviour after. Although she felt deeply for the young human, she had no qualms about punishing him for not being social. With a mischievous smirk, she flew ever onwards as the Treehouse appeared in her vision.

Floating outside of a window, Marceline took in the lay of the land on the home of her favourite human. Noticing that Jake was still up and sitting on the sofa, the smirk returned to her face as a prank began to form in her mind. Turning invisible, Marceline slyly opened the window and drifted through it over to Jake. Morphing into her demon wolf form, she suddenly shifted out of her invisibility and roared. Jake did not even flinch.

Marceline could not help but feel disappointed at how her prank had turned out. It was at this point that Marceline began to notice her surroundings. BMO was softly sobbing next to Jake who looked as if his emotions had been drained from him. Even the room was in disarray. It was cluttered as if someone had ransacked it. With a look of concern the Vampire Queen shifted her focus back to the yellow canine.

"Jake? What's going on? Why is this place so depressing all of a sudden?" Jake's respond was to lift the piece of paper in his hands to Marceline. The vampire took it in slight confusion at the canines' actions. After reading the contents, the vampire who was so professional at masking her pain and negative emotions collapsed on the sofa between Jake and BMO in despair. Tears sprung unbidden to her eyes as the information finally began to seep through to her. Her sadness brought fresh tears to BMO's eyes as it too began to cry again. Jake stretched his arms out and gathered everyone into a hug. They had lost Finn. And there was no guarantee he would ever come back.


	2. A Friend in the Darkness

**AN: Sorry this took so long to get out but a lot happened in the months. I'll try to be more regular! (I know I'm a terrible person xD)**

 **The Book of Eli - Thanks! I'll try and keep it up!**

 **Anon - Don't worry, Finn won't be a super-human. I'm trying to keep him as realistic as possible.**

 **Nico2883 - I have no idea what to do in terms of PB but I doubt she'll be a romantic option for Finn anyway.**

 **Thanks for the reviews! Also I don't own Adventure Time (that's the only time I'm saying that!)**

 **Chapter Two**

Taking a short moment to rest at the edge of the Fire Kingdom, Jake mentally prepared himself for the task at hand. He was venturing into the Fire Kingdom, alone. The tidings he had may potentially enrage the ruler of flames, something that most intellectuals avoided at all costs. Jake knew he had to proceed with caution, yet the law preventing lying was firmly implemented. This was more than a challenging puzzle; this was a potentially fatal game.

The canine had no idea how the fiery monarch would take the news. While it was true that Jake and Flame Princesses friendship had blossomed whilst his brother and her were dating, they had not so much as uttered a syllable to each other since Finn had instigated their parting. The dog was quite fond of living and he did not plan to die to the hands of his brother's former lover. After taking solace in the thoughts of his family, Jake set his course for the Flame Kingdom's Royal Palace.

Flame Princess had gotten into the same routine as of late. Wake early, wonder if she had been too harsh on Finn, listen to her people's problems, then finally get some alone time after dinner. Unfortunately Finn dominated her thoughts even more in her private time. She had to be honest with herself, she still loved the boy hero. The lie had cut her deep of course but she hopped that the break up would mature her former lover, however the last three months brought no news of her Finn.

She had begun to miss his presence, and she knew exactly why. They had connected on an emotional level. Finn was not just her first boyfriend; he was her first real friend. Even Finn, as popular as he was, had no friends his actual age, that was until she came along. No one could ever sever the bond they had created in each other. The enticing flame could not stop the shot of jealous that flew through her veins at the thought of someone daring to try.

This in turn started a slight panic inside of her. He was just as handsome as he was popular; it was entirely feasible that he could have forgotten her in place of some flash in the pan Princess. However, she calmed herself when she realised that word would have reached her if that event had come to pass. This calming thought quickly turned to poison though, as the question of Finn's whereabouts remained unanswered. Sighing with concern, Flame Princess glanced around her throne room taking in the sight.

Red, everything was red. The carpets were a blood red as if the lives of the previous disposed monarchs resided in the weaving. Even the doors were red, she was not overly sure why, but it gave her a slight sense of unease. It was almost as if there was a dark presence constantly lurking, waiting to jump her, ending her short life and reign. As if that was not stressful enough, even her entire kingdom had different varieties of reds. The buildings only had a slight deviation from the tint of the lakes of lava that flowed around the kingdom. A sea of depressing red.

It is wise to remember that red is not just the colour of love and romance. It also signifies pain and hurt, also the need to quickly stop or risk endangering yourself and those around you.

It was time's like this that made her miss Finn the most. Being out in nature and the variety of colours it provided was one of her fondest memories and she could not help but always drift back to a time where the two would be together. Happy.

As Flame Princess let her thoughts wonder back to a simpler time before he overbearing responsibilities, Jake was being lead to an audience with her by Cinnamon Bun. He had not seen the pastry for what felt like years and thought that a catch up with one of his favourite Candy people would be a welcome change from the day he was having.

"Hey CB, how're you? Haven't seen you in forever!" the well-meaning pastry turned to face Jake, his signature goofy grin prominent.

"Hey Jake, I've just been looking after FP is all. Where's Finn?" Jake grimaced slightly at the innocent question. Cinnamon Bun and Finn had been friends for a long time; it was only natural that he ask after him. However Finn was still a sore spot for Jake and he had a suspicion that after this visit, he would the Hero would be a sore spot for the Fire Kingdom too.

"Actually that's why I'm here; I've got news about him. To be honest, I don't know how well it's going to be taken." For a split second, Jake could have sworn that Cinnamon Bun aged before his eyes. The look of concern and tiredness was fleet, but for one moment, the goofiness he pastry aired had vanished leaving behind what appeared to be a protective pastry that was worrying for both his friend and his queen. However in the blink of an eye he was back to normal. The almost vacant smile returned.

"Well we shouldn't keep Phoebe waiting let's go!"

' _Wait did he just say Phoebe? Is that FP's name? And what is with CB suddenly looking like an old man?'_ Jake blinked rapidly, trying to process all that was happening. However Cinnamon Bun was quickly leaving him behind as he moved swiftly for the throne room. Deciding to catch up with the pastry, Jake thrust the thoughts down for the time being, hastily pursuing after the pastry. After a few minutes of silent walking, they finally approached the centre of the Fire Kingdom. Turning to Jake, Cinnamon Bun asked him one final question.

"Are you ready?"

Taking a moment to compose himself, Jake closed his eyes to keep his emotions in check. This was hard for him; Glob knows how hard it would be for the fiery princess lurking beyond the door. Batting down his increasing nervousness, Jake turned to face the pastry.

"I'm ready."

Flame Princess looked up as the door to her throne room opened, dragging her out of her musings. She was shocked to see Cinnamon Bun leading in Jake, despite the shock she could not stop the slight smile that graced her face.

"Oh hello Jake, I didn't expect a visit from you today, Is Finn with you?" Although she tried to disguise it, her hopeful expression was clear to both Cinnamon Bun and Jake.

' _She still cares for him."_ Jake analysed. _'This is going to hit harder than Muscle Princess.'_

"Hey FP, Finn is actually the reason I'm here, I've got news and it's not good." Flame Princess frowned at this. What possible news could Jake have that he would have to come, alone, to explain. She knew it was not death; Finn was far too tough and stubborn to die. She was sure that the fallout would be catastrophic; she would have heard word immediately if that had happened. Although she was improving on her impatient side, the over-thinking was causing a great deal of anxiety. Her irritation was growing.

"Jake! Tell me what's going on!" she had not meant to be so forceful, so demanding, but she had to know the truth. The tortuous waiting. Her pulse was skyrocketing with every second. She could not be certain but she swore that Jake was delaying. She watched as the canine's eye search out those of her champion's. With an encouraging nod from the pastry, Jake sighed and began to approach the throne.

Step. Echo. Step. Flame could only watch the canine as his eyes looked anywhere else but at her. Step. Echo. Step. His approach seemed to transport them to a world slowed, where the inner maelstrom of emotions had to be endured and not fought. Step. Echo. Step. No grace, he had lost his playfulness. _'What could have happened to make him forget such an important part of himself?'_ Step. Echo. Step. He seemed to be a vacuum, sucking all emotion from the atmosphere around them, replacing them with nothingness. Step. Echo. Step. Phoebe felt like a judge was approaching her with his final verdict. She had no clear thought as to why, but she felt diminished next to Jake at this moment. She watched as he pulled out a singular sheaf of paper. Her final judgement.

Jake spoke one word,

"Here."

She reached out for it, slowly. There was something repelling her from the paper, something that seemed to be silently screaming at her to abstain from the letter in front of her. Pushing these feelings aside, she finally took Finn's news from Jake's trembling hands. Turning the paper over she glimpsed a long passage in the writing of her former lover. It was now or never. Flame Princess took a deep breath before finally starting to read.

An anguished howl from a broken woman rent the tense atmosphere asunder. Flames began leaping forth in every direction, white strands tantalizing in their waltz of heartbreak. Despite the awe-inspiring display, Jake and Cinnamon Bun were forced to the very edges of the room. The flames changed from their rhythmic dance to a harsh circling maelstrom. The very air became heated, blinding light spilled forth blinding the two and at the storm's centre, a heart-broken Flame Princess. The heat was starting to surpass the magic of the flame shield; if this carried on much longer both the canine and the pastry would meet their ends.

"FP please calm down! You're beginning to burn us alive!" Cinnamon roared as he tried to make himself heard over the inferno burning his very eyes. Gradually, the flames subsided and the air cooled, the howls turned to sobs as the tidings readily devoured the Princesses heart, intent of leaving only small strands in its wake. Seeing that his ruler had stabilized for the time being, Cinnamon Bun turned to Jake and asked one question.

"What in Grod's name did Finn say?" In response, Jake pulled out a word for word copy he made earlier and handed it to the pastry. The canine looked on as the look of worry and concern vanished from Cinnamon Bun's face to be replaced with the aging look of earlier. Sighing to himself, The pastry turned back to face Jake.

"Thank you for showing this to us, even if it's painful to read. We were starting to wonder why Finn hadn't visited or even contacted us. Despite the break-up we wanted to stay friendly, no matter what happens we will always be fond of Finn. Not to seem rude Jake, but I thinks it's best you go now. We need some time to recover and if I'm not mistaken, you've got another visit to make. However please know that you're always welcome in the Fire Kingdom."

Jake gave Cinnamon Bun a sad smile and nod in response. After pulling the pastry in for a quick, reassuring hug, Jake turned to leave but as he approached the door, Flame Princess' voice rang out.

"Jake! Wait!" Jake turned to see the tearful elemental on her knees as she struggled to get her words out. "I… I never meant… I loved him! I still love him! I just thought some time apart would mature us both! I didn't… I wouldn't want to do that to him! Please believe me, and please… Don't hate me." The sad smile never left Jake's face as he responded to the Princess' plea.

"I know FP. He loves you, and I think he always will. No matter where he is, he will always have a little bit of you in his heart!" With that said, Jake turned and walked towards home. Cinnamon Bun immediately took charge as Jake took his exit.

"I think you should rest your majesty, go lay down for a while." Nodding at her champion's logic, Flame Princess retreated to her private quarters leaving behind her loyal pastry.

"So the last human and OOO's only living protector has left. Dark times lay ahead."

* * *

"She reacted that bad huh?" Jake found himself nodding to Marceline's question. "Hmm and here I was thinking she didn't care for Finn. Sounds like the weenie did a number on her." Jake looked at Marceline. Despite the fact she was smiling, he could tell it was pained. Her eyes did not sparkle with mischief and she looked like she was ready for another break-down. Jake knew this would hit the vampire hard. Outside of family, Marceline was Finn's best friend. They had grown even closer eclipsing his friendship with Bubblegum. The Vampire Queen had lost one too many friends in her long past. This was pushing her to her breaking point. If anyone else was to leave her now, there may be no coming back.

Despite his concern for his friend however, Jake came for a favour.

"I take it you know why I'm here?" At this point, it came as no surprise to Jake just how tired his voice sounded. It had been a long day already and it was barley past noon. Marceline seemed to hear the struggle in his voice; sadly she nodded her head once before replying.

"You want my help with Bonnie right?" Jake could not help but smile at how obvious his request was.

"Well yeah, it may help her cope if you're there to comfort her. You never know, it may help you too." Marceline snorted at that.

"Oh please, I don't need anyone's help. I'm over one thousand years old for Glob's sake." Jake chuckled to himself at that, knowing full well just how much support the 'lone wolf' needed. Marceline quickly continued. "But yes, I'll come along for the ride, may as well annoy Bonnie while I have the chance."

Jake smiled at her in response before standing from his position on her freakishly uncomfortable sofa, and heading towards the door, knowing the vampire would follow. However said vampire had one more question to ask.

"What are you going to do now Jake?" Although the question shook him, he still had an answer for the curious vampire.

"I'll live at Lady's for now. There's no point staying in the Treehouse now. Plus I don't know if I'll be able to stand it without Finn there. Even though my bros gone, I've got to look after my family. They'll miss him too. By the way, can you take in BMO and Neptr for me? I know it's sudden but they'll need a home, that and BMO already loves you."

Marceline smiled and gave him a thumbs up in confirmation. That was all Jake needed.

"Sweet! Let's go see Peebles then."

Said Princess was in her lab at the moment of arrival. She happily waved both of her friends in, excited to show off her latest scientific advances. She ushered them deeper into her lab, striding with an elegant grace befitting a royal while Jake rushed along behind her and Marceline lazily floated above observing all with a cool smirk. She showed them different formulas, plants and even some mechanisms she had been working on. It was all on a different intellectual level than the dog and vampire, but they appreciated the update anyway.

"But enough about all of that for now, you won't have just dropped by for nothing, what can I help you with? Where's Finn? He'd usually be with you two. Don't tell me he's got himself hurt again!"

Princess Bubblegum chuckled fondly to herself. It was a usual occurrence for the young hero to wind in her infirmary after finishing off an adventure. Being slightly shocked at the silence that followed her question, Bonnibel looked back to the pair and was suddenly on edge at the gloomy expressions their faces held. Marceline had lost her mischievousness and Jake had lost his humour, they were both solemn husks of their former selves.

"Guys what's happened to Finn? Oh Glob, he hasn't actually got himself seriously injured has he!? Quit being butts and tell me!"

Silence again. It blanketed their whole world as Jake tried to muster the courage to tell the princess just what was going on, however he froze, finding it impossible to actually tell her the current situation. Jake briefly wondered why this was so hard, even compared to Flame Princess. Then it became clear. Himself and Finn had a special relationship with the leader of the Candy Kingdom.

They had had years to connect on an emotional level, and to Jake, he was a lot closer to Princess Bubblegum than just about anyone else in OOO. How could he tell such a dear friend such news? How could he be the one to personally deliver something that would shatter her heart? Something that would keep her awake at night as guilt warped the poor rulers mind? What sort of person does that to their friends?

It was Marceline who finally took pity on Bonnibel.

"Jake, if you can't tell her, give her the letter to read for herself." Jake gazed at the look of gentle encouragement the vampire was giving him, using it to take heart; he took out of his copy of Finn's letter taking a moment to stare at it. He then processed to hand over the document to a highly confused and anxious Princess Bubblegum. She took a moment to compose herself before she began to read.

Minutes seemed to become the fabric of eternity to Marceline and Jake. They stood idly by as the Princess read what may have been Finn's final words to them. Bubblegum's face had not changed from the impassive she had worn since starting the letter. With no clue of how she would react, the vampire and the dog could only wait in agonising silence, hoping she would not be too distraught upon the news sinking in.

Finally it seemed as if Princess Bubblegum was finished. She looked up slowly still with the impassive look, however her eyes betrayed what she was feeling, a mixture of horror and guilt, Jake and Marceline could only look on in saddened awe as they watched the beloved monarch topple backwards into a rack full of stoppered vials all of which smashed and rained on the now downed princess.

As soon as her body hit the floor, Bubblegum curled into a ball and started to sob. Marceline flew over, checking the remains of the beakers to make sure there was nothing dangerous, that could hurt Bonnibel. Discovering that there was no immediate threat to either her or the Princess, the vampire moved to her fellow monarch's side and put her arms around her in comfort. After a good minute, the princess finally looked to Jake who had been standing back and quietly watching her reaction to Finn's abrupt departure.

"I never wanted him to do this! I know I didn't love him back and I should've never lead him on to believe there may be a chance, but he was still one of my closest friends. He never deserved that kind of pain. I didn't know what I did hurt Finn that much Jake, I'm so sorry! I just wanted a loyal champion. I should have told him from the start. It would have hurt but at least he'd have had the truth and got on with his life. Instead I've driven him to the point of insanity and he's left to find a better life with better friends."

With this Bubblegum dissolved into fresh tears, causing Marceline to cuddle her tighter. Seeing his friends in such a state of distress to at the very heart of Jake. Stretching out his arms he dragged both the princess and the vampire into a warm, comforting hug. After a couple of minutes past, the candy monarch finally straightened out, effectively ending the hug. All parties instantly felt a slight loss as the contact was halted but none commented on it. Bubblegum straightened her creased clothes before turning to her friends.

"I need to tell the kingdom what has transpired here, they'll need me now more than ever. Once again Jake, I'm so sorry but I have a Kingdom to run and right now, they'll need their ruler. By all means though come visit as often as you can. I'll appreciate the company." With that, Princesss Bubblegum wandered off to prepare to face her subjects, leaving Jake and Marceline to watch as she walked away. When she was finally out of view, Jake turned back around to his undead companion.

"Do you mind coming back to the Treehouse with me? I think it's time to move away and could so with some help." The vampire smiled at her friend.

"Sure Jake let's head out!" With that they both departed the castle and began what could have been, their last journey to the Treehouse.

* * *

After a journey that felt like it took an age, Jake and Marceline finally made it back to the Treefort. Opening the door Jake allowed Marceline to float in before following her inside, closing the door behind him. They stood in a chilling silence, neither looking at each other, all they could do was stare, unblinking, forward. This went on unchanging for a few minutes more before Marceline took heart and finally broke the silence.

"I'll start packing down here if you want." Jake nodded dumbly as Marceline offered a sad smile that did not reach his eyes, nevertheless, she quickly floated away to start as Jake climbed the ladders to his bedroom. Along the way, BMO joined Jake, not speaking a word, the robot sat and watched as the dog worked. It did not take long to finish the bedroom, moving downstairs with BMO at his heels; Jake began to pack the living room and kitchen. Halfway through Marceline floated up and began to help. In no time at all the rest of the house was packed away, waiting for Jake to move.

"BMO can you fetch Neptr for us please." BMO nodded in response to the dog's question and in five minutes, fetched Neptr for Jake and Marceline.

"Hey you two." Jake began, his voice barley above a whisper. "With Finn gone I won't be staying here anymore, this means I'm lending you to Marceline for a while, at least until Finn gets home. Will you guys be okay?" They both nodded in confirmation, giving Jake his first genuine smile of the day. Turning to Marceline, he gave her a nod of encouragement, with a gentle, Marceline turned to her new robots.

"Come on cuties, it's time to go home." Grabbing both robots under her arms, Marceline flew out of an open window towards home. With just himself left, Jake took one last look around the house. It seemed so empty without Finn there, even more highlighted now that all of his things were packed away for moving. Moving again towards the door, Jake paused before it, letting the memories of the place wash over him one last time.

"I don't know where you are bro, I don't know where if you're okay. Although I wish you would have stayed, I understand why you left. Just be careful and come home bro. There are too many people who love you for you not to. I love you Finn, stay safe."

With that, Jake departed the Treehouse and headed for Lady's, his new home. Meanwhile the setting sun moved slowly behind his old home, illuminating the empty rooms with bright cheerful colours one last time, the majesty of nature gave the house a warm, homely feel, it's last farewell.

* * *

Roughly two weeks had passed since Finn had departed from his home, and said human now found himself on the very outskirts of OOO. In front of him lay a large forest, not uninviting with its appearance. Light streamed in through breaks in the treetops, giving a cheery glow to the whole expanse. In the distance, a faint sound of a trickling spring rang out further enhancing the allure of the forest. The orange light of the sunset entwined with the natural shades of green the forest provided gave it an almost holy glow. The sounds of the animals of the wood called to a tired Finn lovingly, beckoning him in. The temptation proved impossible to ignore, particularly since he had been travelling all day.

The forest seemed to raise his dented spirits, although his adventure had already helped him to recover some of his old self, before him seemed to be a source of even greater soothing. Without further thought, Finn plunged headfirst into the forest, excited to see what lay in store. Despite his battle-hardened senses, what the human failed to notice the many pairs of eyes watching his progress as he entered their realm.

As night approached, Finn knew he had to set up camp. He still felt relatively safe as he had only just crossed the outskirts of OOO and he was secure enough in his skills to know nothing could get the drop on him. As such Finn began an earnest search for a comfortable place for the night. Traversing through the trees and undergrowth, Finn stumbled upon the small stream he had heard earlier. Slowly approaching the water source, the hero cupped his hands and scooped up some of the cool water. Putting it to his mouth, Finn let the water slip down his throat refreshing him after a long day of travel. Deciding that there was no better place to stay the night, Finn grabbed a couple of dry twigs and branches ready to start a fire. Reaching into his backpack, the human pulled out fling and tinder and quickly got to work starting a fire. After a few minutes effort, Finn was rewarded with a healthy blaze.

Again reaching into his backpack, the young teen pulled out an apple and began eating his snack as he leaned up with his back against a tree, not far away from his fire. In this relaxed position, Finn allowed himself to think back to his friends and family. A stab of guilt went through him as he remembered the way he left.

"It's for the best." Finn muttered, composing himself. He had to do what he did. Quickly moving his thoughts on, he considered how he had been alone on his journey. Over the past two weeks of travel, the human had avoided all towns, cities and villages. He had not seen a soul. Although he had set of into the more unexplored part of OOO, he had expected to see at least one person.

"It's odd but in a way I'm glad," Finn again spoke, despite there not being a soul in sight. "Don't think I could put up with any inhabitants trying to persuade me to stay." Despite this train of thought the teen could not help but miss the interaction that only another person could provide. He had always been a social person and he was having to come to terms with being on his own.

"I'll manage" Finn again muttered to himself as his eyes slowly began to close, it had been a long day and he was in need of some rest. In next to no time, Finn was snoozing as the fire crackled and danced to a tune of comfort only it could hear. The streams gentle flow gave an aura of peace and tranquillity as it flowed on its never-ending journey. All this happened as the moon rose high into the twinkling nights sky, it shone its silver rays over the camp, graciously blessing it with its unwavering light. It was at this time the eyes struck.

Finn awoke bleary eyed and with a pounding headache, not knowing what the hell happened. All he could remember was lying in front of a nice, warm fire and dozing off for a comfortable night's sleep. Now he was awake, before dawn, owning to the fact it was still dark. Trying to move, Finn discovered that he had been subdued and tied to a tree.

'Wait' Finn thought. 'Why am I tied to a tree? What in the name of Gob is going on?' With this thought, Finn began to take stock of his surroundings and found that his makeshift camp site was in disarray. Six figures were looting his things as he watched on powerless. Although they were the same size as he was, the creatures wore tattered clothing and seemed to have quite the agile build. However it was their faces that old Finn what they were. Long noses, beady eyes and sneers that would infuriate the most patient of people. Goblins.

Said Goblins were now looking through his backpack cackling at the spoils that they were finding, they were bleeding him dry before his journey could really begin. However it was what they took next that really enraged Finn. One of the goblins had his demon blood sword and was proudly showing the rest of them his 'spoils of war.' They all began laughing in triumph at their score. This sent Finn into a towering rage as his beloved family heirloom was manhandled by the thieves.

"Hey! Put my sword down you butts!" At the sound of Finn's voice the Goblin's turned to face him, their grins turning feral. The self-proclaimed leader quickly took charge of the situation.

"Well well well, the human lives and what a delicious meal he will make, I hear they're a rarity nowadays, a delicacy! But first things first, Uglug!" The youngest Goblin stepped forward, sneer still present on his face. The leader resumed talking as Uglug eyed Finn hungrily. "Take this loot back to HQ, we'll deal with this human!"

Although a look of regret crossed the face of the young goblin, he did not disobey the order and quickly retreated into the forest with Finn's gear. With his orders met, the Goblin leader turned his attention to his prey.

"Well then, looks like dinner isn't quite ready yet." With that the leader walked slowly up to Finn. Grabbing the teenager's hat he tore it off before throwing it onto the camp fire. It help fuel the low burning flames and a healthy fire was restored. Grabbing Finn by his hair the goblin dragged a singular finger across his exposed cheek. Hovering the digit in front of his own face, the goblin proceeded to lick his finger, seemingly enjoying the taste.

Showing his sharp canines the leader yelled to his squad, "The human tastes delicious!" raucous laughter greeted the proclamation as the leader moved to get into Finn's face. "However I think he could so with some tenderizing." The leader curled his fist and thrust it into Finn's stomach over and over. Finn tried to hide the pain and the tears, however he failed. He could not stop the shouts ripping from his throat; he could not stop his eyes hazing over with tears, blurring his vision. His obvious discomfort caused the crescendo of laughter to reach new levels of volume.

"I think he'll taste even better now!" Cheers and jeers met this news from the leader as Finn slumped over from the punishment inflicted on him. Going around to the back of the tree, the leader untied Finn and let him fall heavily to the floor. Moving back to Finn the lead goblin made sure that the bindings on the teenager's hands and legs still kept him incapable of escape. The leader then proceeded to reach down to try and hoist up. Finn began to struggle and fight despite his injuries, however all this seemed to do was amuse the leader who was still able to hoist him up anyway.

"Oohh he's spirited eh lads?" more laughter greeted his statement. "Pity it won't save him now!" With this the Goblin leader drew a dagger from his ragged belt. Once again grabbing Finn by his hair, the leader yanked back exposing the human's neck.

"Kept this dagger nice and sharp for people like you! Thinking you can just strut into our lands, eat or food and drink our water. Luckily you bastards make for a tasty snack to make up for your freeloading." The leader whispered to the young hero as he placed his blade into position. "Tonight, boys! We will feast!" With this the goblins started to chant and scream as their leader took a second to bask in the horror that crossed the young man's face.

' _I can't die now! Oh Gob please not now, I haven't done anything on this journey, I was only just beginning. Please anyone!_ ' However no one seemed to hear Finn's thoughts as the hunger seemed to finally affect the Goblin leader. He looked down into the human's frightened face and leered one final time. With that leer, he drew the knife back slightly, nicking Finn's neck, and froze and an arrow lodged itself into his eyes.

The other goblins looked on in sickening awe as their leader dropped his dagger and crumpled to the floor in a pool of blood and pus that leaked from his eye. As they starred on another arrow buried itself into the throat of another who followed his leaders example and feel to the ground, blood spurting from his wound. All the remaining goblins turned to face the new threat but saw darkness. However turning their back on Finn was a huge mistake. He had managed to get a hold of the dropped dagger and cut through his ropes.

As he regained his footing another arrow transfixed itself in between another goblin's eyes. Seeing only two left, Finn quickly charged the from behind, grabbing the closest one, he quickly opened its throat one end to the other. As the goblin fell to the ground dying in a pool of its own blood, one last arrow sailed from the darkness and buried itself inside the last goblin's heart.

Finn collapsed to the ground as the adrenaline left his body, he began to shake. He had come a lot closer to death than he had ever wanted and he was very certain that this memory was going in the vault. As he was committing the memory under lock and key, a figure appeared out of the gloom. It was a male. A male wearing light, fitted leather armour and trousers all dyed dark blue to blend in with the night. He was tall, around six foot if Finn had to hazard a guess. But what really intrigued him was what the man looked like.

Although he was obviously young, only a handful of years older than Finn himself, the man was practically human in appearance. His skin was a light brown, something Finn had never seen before , his fair was short and as black as the darkness that surrounded the camp, his eyes seemed to match his hair at a glance however at closer inspection, they were actually an extremely dark brown. They seemed to express every emotion the man felt as he took in the scene stroking his goatee in deep thought. He had a handsome face and a cheeky smirk was currently present on it as she checked the bodies reclaiming his arrows.

Apart from the quiver of arrows strapped to his back, the stranger also had two long daggers at both hips and a bow currently held in his hands. It was too dark to make out any further details on them. The last thing Finn noticed was the black cape he wore, nothing of note, probably more help to blend in with the darkness.

As the stranger checked on the bodies he tutted to himself.

"Bloody goblin scum. What is it with them and eating people?" A squelch that could make anyone cringe was heard throughout camp as he retrieved his last arrow from the Goblin leader.

"At least that's another five down, and a leader! Knew that lucky feeling would work out for something today! I'm forgetting something though, something important." Turning around the man finally noticed Finn starring at him with a mixture of worry and awe.

The man's face lit up as he spied Finn still sprawled on the ground.

"Oh of course, saving you! That was it! Lucky you built that fire, or those goblins would have had a tasty stew for tonight. And they really love their stew. Anyway, enough of my babbling. I'm Jonathan. Jonathan Quinn.


	3. The Goblin Camp

**So first things first, I originally aimed for only 5,000 words, ended up being over 7,500, not bad really! Also sorry if parts of this seems rushed or unchecked but if I didn't get this out today likely hood was that it wouldn't be going out for a long time so please give it some leeway! Anyway reviews,**

 **He23t - Thanks for the positive feedback!**

 **The Book of Eli - I hope this chapter answers some of your questions!**

 **Guest - Well there is a Lady reaction in this chapter!**

 **\- Thanks for the kind words! This hasn't been abandoned, I'm just a very slow updater unfortunately.**

 **Special thanks to DJ Rodriguez for bouncing ideas with me!**

 **Without anymore distractions, here's the next chapter!**

 **The Goblin Camp**

Finn could only gape at the cheeky grin that the young man was giving him. This saviour appeared human and yet he carried on as if this was not an important matter. Despite the fact that Finn knew he should be thankful for the aid he had been given, he could not stop the stab of annoyance that coursed through his body. Facing Jonathon, he decided to meet his parents head on.

"What the hell man, you're human!? How can you just ignore that? How can you walk around as if that's not important?" He did not mean to yell, but Finn could not keep the questions bottled up inside. He had wished for years for another human, the young hero had always been bitter that he was the last of his kin. And here was one, right in front of him, close enough that he could tell that this was no cruel illusion. This was really happening.

The man gave Finn a slightly confused look, before he started to consider his words. After a few moments it looked like he finally had an answer. Turning to face the teen, Jonathon preceded to speak his mind.

"You lose all your stuff; nearly die and you ask a question like that huh?" The older man joked, however upon seeing the look of hope mixed with desperation and a hint of teenage angst, caused him to sigh before continuing his speech.

"I was human a long time ago; nowadays… well it's up for debate."

Although Finn wanted to push for answers, really dig deep to have the assurance that he really was not the last human alive. However he saw in the man's face that he did not, and probably would not, answer any of the question he wanted to ask. Despite the sizeable grin that Jonathon wore, his eyes seemed to have darkened. He had the look of a haunted man. A look Finn had become far too accustomed to already in his young life.

Before his thoughts could stray further down their tortuous path, Jonathon's voice rang out again.

"Anyway what's your name kid? What are you doing out here by yourself?"

Finn did not hear the second question, he was too busy trying to kill Jonathon with the death glare he was currently sending him. The young hero could not believe that the archer had called him a kid! Being Ooo's protector for years ought to buy him the right to be considered an equal by those who were older. Even Marceline enjoyed the hero's company and she was over a thousand years old. Finn could not stop himself answering in an irritated tone.

"Hey! I'm obviously not a kid, I kick all kinds of butt you jerk!"

The teen's outburst only seemed to entertain Jonathon, whose dark eyes sparkled in amusement. The archer found that he could not stop himself from having a little fun.

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen!"

"…That sounds like you're a kid to me." The growl that Finn produced was accompanied by another murderous glance. This only seemed to amuse the archer further as he let out a few hearty laughs into the night air.

"I'm sorry but that was too easy! Winding you up is going to be fun! Anyway back on topic, you didn't answer my original questions. What's your name and what are you doing out here travelling by yourself?"

After pausing for a moment to make sure no further teasing was forthcoming, the young hero finally decided to answer the man in front of him, making sure to make his annoyance known by huffing out a response.

"I'm Finn and I just had to get away from home for a while and decided to travel around."

Jonathon immediately picked up on the tone and bluntness of the teenagers' response. He knew it ran deeper than just general annoyance at him for the teasing. Raising an eyebrow at the young hero, the archer decided that now was not the time to push the boy into discussing his private life, especially after Finn gave him the benefit of the doubt too. Deciding that it was better to focus on one thing at a time for the moment, Jonathon carried on with their previous conversation.

"So Finn I take it you want your gear back?"

The look on the teenagers face seemed to be communicating how much of an idiot the archer was for asking. Chuckling at the implied message, the archer did a quick inventory check, carefully going over every item meticulously, making sure everything was maintained to a high standard. After his checks were done, his face turned serious as he eyed Finn. Although the young hero did not flinch away from Jonathon's gaze he could not help but be slightly unnerved by it. He had a strong feeling that the man was judging his fighting prowess. The though was confirmed with the archers next question.

"Am I correct in thinking that I saw the goblins make off with a sword?" Finn simply nodded in confirmation. He could tell that his companion was debating something in his mind and that his words would only prolong the man's thought process. However his next question forced an answer from the teenager.

"So I take it you can wield a sword then?"

"I've been protecting my home for years now! I'm one of the best swordsmen there!" Nodding as if to say that this was the response he expected Finn to make, Jonathon reached to his trousers, pulling back his cloak to reveal a belt with a number of pouches on it. Opening one, the archer reached in and pulled out a fairly normal-looking, standard longsword. Finn could only gape as he was tossed said sword by his companion. Seeing his awestruck expression, Jonathon face wrinkled in confusion before it dawned on him just what was making the young hero in front of him speechless.

"Oh yeah right! Keep forgetting most people don't have these. Pouches with spells on them, I helped save a half-dead wizard from a rampaging ogre once. He was so grateful he gave me these as a gift. Anyway, sorry to say that's pretty much a standard sword, nothing really special about it. I only keep it if I'm in a pinch and no weapons come to hand. You need it more than I do at the moment."

Nodding gratefully at Jonathon, Finn gained a smirk at the man's next statement.

"Now that we're all tooled up, let's go take back your gear."

* * *

Lady Rainicorn cast a worried glance at the direction of the window. Ever since Jake had moved in with his family, he had taken up a vigil at the same window every day. Although he never told her what he was watching for, she already knew. He was waiting for Finn to come home.

The news had hit the entire family hard. The kids had been really disappointed to hear that Uncle Finn was 'going away for a long vacation' as Jake put it. Although they had cried that they would not see their Uncle anytime soon, they had decided they would make him play with them for hours to make up for lost time when eventually returned.

Lady found herself had been devastated to learn of her friends disappearance. Her friendship with Finn had only grown as her relationship with Jake had blossomed. He was family. Family that was in need of help but was nowhere to be found. She doubted at this point that he was even in Ooo anymore.

Luckily for Lady, the kids had kept her occupied. She had never focused on the sad fact that Finn may have left forever as her children needed a lot of attention. Unfortunately, Jake did not have anything to really distract himself with. This meant his vigil had lasted for two weeks, with occasional breaks to eat, sleep and play with the kids.

Deciding to give the man she loved some comfort, Lady flew over to Jake, wrapping her body gently around him. Leaning into the embrace, the canine let out a sigh of relief, tainted with sadness. As Jake snuggled deeper into the hug, Lady asked how Jake was doing in her native language. She knew it was redundant. She knew how he was feeling.

Jake appreciated the sincerity however and decided to tell Lady everything that was weighing down upon him.

"I'm still in shock, he's really gone. For the longest time it was Finn and Jake against the world but now he's vanished. Even after I met you he had my back through everything. Dating, fatherhood and even understanding that I needed to spend a lot of time with you guys. He was always there for me, even if we didn't hang out as much as we did in the old times. I always knew he was there waiting to go on an adventure or chill out with his bro and play BMO, but now he's left. I guess I always took his presence for granted. I just assumed he'd always be there, living at the Treehouse, going out on adventures and I could tag along when I could. I guess I was selfish. I expected the best of both lives and probably helped drive Finn away. Glob knows how much of a terrible brother I've been."

Letting out unshed tears, Jake cried with Lady as the lamented the loss of a family member. One of the brightest rays of Ooo, but more importantly, their family, was snatched away. And where light does not reach darkness will thrive.

* * *

Jonathon and Finn were moving swiftly but silently through the forest. Although Finn's style was by far and away charge in first, hit everything moving with a sword and watch with pleasure as evil is vanquished, he seemed to be naturally adapting to being silent and sticking to the shadows. Although he was both shocked and pleased that he had this skill, he still much preferred his tried and tested one that he had honed over the years in the many fights and dungeons that had taken place all across Ooo. However thinking of Ooo bought up his fresh wounds and he visibly flinched from the emotional pain they wrought. This did not go unnoticed by his companion.

"So Finn, how is it that a fifteen year old teenager appears to be traveling to God knows where by himself?" Finn jumped slightly at the older man's voice but swiftly recovered from the shock of his sudden speech. Focusing on the question, the young hero attempted to look the archer in the eye to see how little he could get away with saying. He could already tell by Jonathon's tone that the young man suspected something. Yet the archer kept his head down appearing to be focused more on the trail left by the goblin rather than the hero of Ooo.

Thinking hard, Finn tried to find a way to be as ambiguous as possible. He did not really want to discuss what had happened, especially with somebody he was not one hundred percent with. If he helped regain his stolen items than he would at least be able to trust him. Deciding he had taken long enough to answer, Finn spoke aloud his shrouded thoughts.

"Just needed a break, travelling is always helpful for that right?" adding a disarming smile in his speech for realism, the young hero looked again at Jonathon who was now taking a break from tracking and gazing at Finn with a small smile. The elder of the two soon responded.

"It really does."

With that a comfort silence fell on the pair as they continued onwards towards their goal. It was about a minute later that Jonathon spoke again.

"So who was she?"

Finn had to quickly collect himself before walking into a tree in shock. He knew straight away that he could not deny the question. His reaction had already spoken volumes. _'How did he figure it out so quickly?'_ Finn thought as he gaped at Jonathon in awe. Seeing the question written on his face, Jonathon decided to answer the riddle.

"Not many fifteen year olds have problems that would force them from to effectively run away from home. Also by your reaction when you first saw me, I'm the first human you've either seen in a while or maybe even the first you've ever seen. So I assume it wasn't to do with any parental issues. This added to the fact that at fifteen, your hormones are probably in overdrive makes it more obvious. To go even further, most people of many different races that I've met while traveling, make relationships to be an important thing when they're your age. Now I don't know you very well, but the impression I get from you is a very relaxed one, things don't really bother you. Only something very big and hurtful could have forced you to leave the place you call home. So, to summarise. You're at the age when you're beginning to notice girls and feelings, you're a fiercely loyal person and friend yet you felt the need to leave all your family and friends behind, judging by the fact I'm potentially the first human you've ever met, it's unlikely that you had parental problems either. Only one traumatic event fits the evidence. A break up."

Jonathon watched in slight amusement as Finn's face went through a variety of different emotions and faces, never being able to settle on a singular one. Finally it seemed that the young hero had decided on disbelief as he levelled a critical stare at his companion. It however, had no effect on the older man as he began chuckling to himself.

"Look Finn, I've seen a lot of places, met a bunch of people. I've seen so many different races and species your age going through exactly the same sort of thing. I know what I'm talking about."

Although not really sure if anyone had deduction skills like that, Finn nodded, showing it was in fact the break up that hurt him, sending him spiralling to his own personal hell. Forcing him from his home, abandoning all he loved in his wake.

Before he could dwell on his thoughts, Jonathon decided to speak to him again.

"So who's the girl that stole your heart away then?"

The young hero searched his companions face for any sign of deceit however, all he saw was a mixture of understand and just a hint of intrigue. Finn decided that he was trustworthy enough to tell, after all, there is little point in saving a man's life and giving him a weapon just to attempt to kill him later. At least that is what he fervently hoped. With the conclusion that the man was indeed friendly, Finn built up his courage before launching into his thoughts about Flame Princess.

"She was the best! The most mathematical person I know. It's why she deserves better than me. I was too immature for her, I lied and she left me. She was the only one my age and with being the last human… It made me like her even more. It's still hard to even think about her. She still turns my brain to junk you know?"

Finishing his mini speech, Finn looked to Jonathon for his reaction, however he did not get the reaction he as expecting. The elder of the two was staring at the young hero with a blank expression. Finn began to grow concerned as the gaze continued, never seeming to falter.

After a solid minute of silence, Jonathon finally broke it with one single question.

"Did you really just use the word 'mathematical' to describe something awesome?"

Feeling confused by his partners attitude, Finn quickly answered with, "Yeah. In Ooo loads of people use it!"

Finn watched as Jonathon slowly turned around, a look of awe and slight disgust on his face, and walked away mumbling to himself some about 'youths' and their 'crazes'. Not being overly sure if he was meant to be offended by this or not, Finn gave chase while calling out, "Hey! What are you mumbling about?"

Jonathon maintained his look of awe and disbelief as he called back his response.

"Nothing for you to worry your precious bear-headed self over. Keep up now, we're getting closer to the camp, be cautious." As Finn jogged to catch up, he caught the tail end of a certain archer's mutter.

"God knows why I'm helping someone who uses 'mathematical' as an adjective. Don't worry Jonathon it'll all be over soon."

Levelling yet another death glare at the archer's back, Finn continued to follow as the Goblin Camp got ever closer.

* * *

Jake slowly strolled through the Candy Palace with lady flying alongside. He was not really someone for décor, yet he found that looking at the decorations helped keep his mind off the bleak atmosphere he had encountered while walking through the kingdom. Bubblegum had obviously announced the news to her subjects. They had all loved the boy her, considering him a friend as well as their protector. The candy citizens seemed to be in no better shape than all of Finn's family and friends.

Refocusing on the task at hand, Jake continued to lead Lady towards the throne room. They had received a summons from the Princess a short time ago, and had immediately set off for the palace. They had no idea what the monarch wanted, but she needed them that much was clear. And with everything that had happened, they were not abandoning friends when they need them the most.

As Lady and Jake neared the throne room, they found a floating Marceline with her umbrella, paused at the door. After she caught their scents, she turned around to face them with a soft, yet teasing smile.

"Hey you two. It's not often you bring your other half out to play Jake."

This one sentence lifted Jake's mood slightly. It was a comfort knowing that the Vampire Queen could still be herself and was refusing to give into her sadness.

"Hey Marcy, take it PB summoned you as well?"

"Summoned, no she invited me. No one would get away with ordering me around." Marceline said with a devilish smirk, causing all three to break out in chuckles. However as the vampire's gaze found the closed doors again, she let out a soft sigh.

"I'm sure whatever she wants is about Finn. She didn't tell me why she wanted us to come either. I don't know if she's struggling with the loss or not, but I don't think that's it anyway. If she was so bad as to need help she'd only need one of us."

After a moments pause Marceline looked behind her to her two companions who were watching on silently.

"Well… shall we see what she wants?"

All three shared looks before simultaneously nodding. The Vampire Queen threw open the doors and all of them filed in, eyes scanning the room looking for the Candy Princess.

They found what they were looking for. The monarch was standing at one of her windows looking out over her kingdom. They all did a mental check on her physical appearance to see if she as okay. She was still dressed in her usual elegant pink dress and her air of royalty did not appear to be diminishing despite what appeared to be a lack of sleep. As they continued to stare, Bubblegum slowly turned to face them with a sad smile on her face.

"The kingdom's so quiet. It's funny I always wanted a few days of peace and quiet. But if this was the price…" She left the last part unsaid. For all present at that moment, there was no need to hear the ending. They knew. Sighing to herself, Princess Bubblegum continued her speech as she turned back to the window to view the deserted streets of her city.

"I told the citizens and this was the reaction. It's almost like he died and they're all in mourning. Then again, aren't we?" Once again she was met with silence. It was expected. There was no clear way to respond to such a question without increasing the already awkward atmosphere. As if she could sense the need for a change of topic, the candy monarch turned slowly away from her window and walked slowly towards her throne. Every eye was on her as her footsteps echoed around the room, it seemed to reverberate their very souls. As she neared the throne, Bubblegum eyed it for a good second before she plunged into it with a sigh.

As she got comfortable, she released her ever present need to appear royal and powerful. She slumped in her chair, refusing to sit up, she let her emotions appear in her eyes, the days of restlessness were there for all to see. She looked like a defeated woman, one who had taken one too many blows in her life.

Seeing all this concerned Jake, who had already been holding a lot of worry for his friends over the past few weeks. Deciding that killing two birds with one stone was a good idea, Jake decided to question Princess Bubblegum.

"PB are you okay? You seem pretty down. Also why did you summon us all here? It's obvious that neither we nor you, have any news about Finn." The Princess took a moment to look at Jake before answering.

"I'm not at one hundred percent and I definitely won't be after what I'll have to do. Rumours have already started spreading about Finn's disappearance. It's time we let the rest of Ooo know that our protector and friend, has left. I need to call a gathering for all the princesses and other royalty of Ooo."

It all became clear to the three standing there, watching the upset woman. They had hoped that this day would never come. However word had slipped out and now the one thing they did not want to face, was a reality. The group knew there would be tears and rage, many of which maybe directed at them.

' _This is why Bonnie is concerned. Not only will we have to face the truth, but possibly a mob of angry princesses. Well… this will be fun.'_ Before Marceline could continue her sarcastic rant, Bubblegum once again spoke up.

"I wanted you here Lady, and you too Jake. I feel that I could use your support when I announce this." Both quickly agreed, nodding their heads while making noises of confirmation to show they were on board. "Great" Bonnibel smiled one of her few genuine ones recently. Turning to Marceline, she continued her address.

"Obviously you'll be there Marceline, being the Vampire Queen and all. But I wanted you here to help prepare if that isn't too much trouble to ask?"

The Vampire Queen tilted her head slightly and smirked at her friend, while nodding her head in a similar fashion to Jake and Lady. Seeing that all her friends wanted to help, placed a big smile on the Princess' face.

"Thank you guys, this really means a lot. This isn't going to be easy and I'm not too proud to say I need your help." Gazing at Jake and Lady, Bonnibel continued talking.

"Oh! Feel free to stay in the guest quarters. You can pick your own room." With this, Lady and Jake said their goodbyes and removed themselves to choose their temporary room, leaving only Marceline left. After a full minutes silence, the candy monarch again cast her sight towards her old friend and began to speak.

"Thank you for coming Marcy. If it's not a problem can you stay as well?" The Vampire Queen simply nodded in agreement, putting a sad smile on her old friend's lips. Getting up from her seat, Princess Bubblegum moved back to her window, the one that oversaw her kingdom. Looking over her land, the princess asked the questions that were pressing urgently in her mind.

"Do you think they'll hate us? I don't know if I can take their blame and hatred." For once Marceline did not fly; she echoed Bonnibel's actions of earlier and walked over to stand next to the candy woman. After reaching her destination, she too began to look out over the Candy Kingdom.

"Do you want me to be completely honest?"

Princess Bubblegum hummed in confirmation at the vampire's question, which made the Vampire Queen begin preparing what to say in her mind. After half a minute of preparation, she was ready. She could only hope that Bonnibel was as well.

"There's going to be a lot of anger and hated, probably some insults people will regret too. And I won't lie to you; a lot will be aimed at Flame Princess and you. They'll say you led him on too much and they'll blame FP for breaking his heart. I'm sure they'll blame me, Jake and even Lady as well. They'll bring mine and Finn's friendship up and call me a terrible friend, while they'll accuse Lady and Jake of being a poor family that didn't love him enough."

Princess Bubblegum wished that Marceline would be wrong, but she knew it was a longshot at best. This was going to be a fear she would have to face head on. One fight she would have to win. As she was thinking this, her companion reached over and grasped her shoulder. Turning to see what she wanted, Bubblegum was met by a soft smile from Marceline.

"Don't think for a second you'll be facing this alone, we'll all be there. We've got your back." Hearing these words helped form a soft smile onto the lips of the Candy Princess. They gazed warmly at each other for a few seconds. Until Marceline finally began to float away, ending the moment by saying,

"I'm going to choose a room too Bonnie. Come find me if you need anything else." With these last words of comfort, Marceline floated away leaving Bubblegum alone again.

"Marceline's right! We can do this!" Bonnibel confidently said to herself. Turning back to the window, the candy woman said one last sentence before heading off to attend to her royal duties.

"We'll be brave and face the challenges. Just like you would Finn."

* * *

Jonathon and Finn found themselves on the edge of a clearing, a clearing that would have been a lovely place to rest if it the goblin camp inside of it was not there. Spying from the shadows, the temporary allies discovered numerous things.

First was the mound of carcasses that seemed to be at one side of the encampment, what made this sight disturbing was that it was unclear just what they were the carcasses of. Some definitely were animals that they had managed to hunt, what the others were would take some close inspection. Neither Jonathon or Finn were entirely eager to do that.

Next was the amount of enemies there were in the camp. There were around twenty of them all doing different things. Some lounged about around a camp fire, eating and drinking without a care in the world, shouting insults at one another as they enjoyed their feast. Others attempted to clean rusted weapons to little success as they lounged around outside of tattered and torn tents, withered from the years of use and quick camp moves. However one positive is that none of the goblins seemed to be on any type of patrol or guard duty. It looked like years of spoilers had sapped their caution, only being an advantage to the two temporary allies.

Despite this good news however, what really caught the warrior's eyes was the figure that was seated in the shadows at the other end of the clearing. Uglug, the youngest goblin of the camp invaders, was currently rooting through Finn's pack, trying to find any secrets it held. Despite the fact he was the youngest of the old party, his youth was his advantage. The guy was by far the biggest goblin in the camp. He had the biggest muscles of anybody in the camp, towering above every other goblin; he was clearly the juggernaut of their group. That did not matter to Finn, as he watched Uglug pick up his demon sword and sneer with yellowed, broken teeth at his prize.

This infuriated Finn who was already looking for a fight, sprung up swiftly to his feet and was about to charge head first into the camp, but a calming hand found its way onto his shoulder.

Jonathon had placed his hand there and was slowly pulling Finn back down into cover. Sighing, he allowed himself to be guided back into cover, earning a grateful smirk from the archer.

"I know the whole 'all guns blazing' style is your speciality, however here it would only get you killed and I really don't need that on my conscience. Hold on for a minute and let me think of a plan."

While a person with the gifts of patience and life experience would agree whole-heartedly with this, Finn was not a person with a great amount of either of these things. It showed as he fidgeted around in place while Jonathon took his time thinking, trying to find a strategy that would work to their advantage. As time wore on, Finn's frustration increased. He was about to jump up and charge in, regardless of the hazards, however just as he was going to snap his companion spoke up. "I've got it!"

With this, Jonathon once again began to shuffle the contents of his pouches. Finding what he wanted a smirk crossed his face as he pulled out a jar filled with a bright white powder. However the smirk went when he realised this was the last of this particular item. Gazing at it for a while, the archer nodded to himself before addressing his young friend.

I'm throwing this at the fire. Do not look at the explosion! That is the most important part, keep your head down and wait for my shout. When you hear it, charge at the goblin with your gear. Kill any that get in the way, but do not go out of your way to kill them. If they're not in your path, don't kill them, I'll deal with them, you just go straight on through to your gear. We'll meet by the fire when you're finished. Got it all?"

Nodding his head, Finn prepared himself for the skirmish that lay ahead. Watching Jonathon carefully as he judged the throw required to launch the powder into the campfire. The archer finally seemed to figure out what angles and how much force was needed to get it done. As he looked at Finn, he sent him a single nod of the head before casting his arm back and throwing the jar, diving into cover as it sailed on its short journey.

As the jar shattered in the fire, both Jonathon and Finn covered their eyes as a blinding white light lit up the camp. The goblins immediately reacted as their vision was impaired and sensitive ears could only hear ringing. They began shouting for one another, trying to figure out what was going on. It was total chaos. Just perfect for Jonathon who shouted out his signal while notching an arrow in his bow.

"Finn! Now!"

Right on cue, Finn leaped up, and began his sprint into camp while gripping his borrowed sword. As soon as he entered the camp, a goblin stumbled into his path, dazed and confused. Deciding quickly on what to do, Finn quickly ran it through, and it squealed out in its death throws as blood gushed from its wound. It fell to the floor, swimming in its own blood, clinging to the injury in a desperate attempt to keep both its blood and vital organs inside its body. Ignoring the dying goblin, Finn continued towards his target slicing apart another four who had the misfortune on stumbling into the young hero's way.

He soon began to approach the lone goblin Uglug, however he noticed something strange. The goblin was ready for him. Apparently he had been so far outside of camp that the area of effect did not reach him, and thus was able to watch the young hero's progress through the camp. Slowing down Finn strolled before his target not at all intimidated by the size and strength of his opponent, however he kept his guard up, the last thing he needed was to die before he could really begin his journey. They both eyed each other and began circling waiting for the other to make the first move. After roughly a minute of circling, Finn decided to bait his opponent.

"Bring it, you jerk!"

Taking the bait Uglug, screeched in fury before charging at his foe sending a wild slash towards Finn with the human's demon sword. Parrying the blow sent shockwaves down the young hero's arm. Nimbly dodging away from another strike, Finn sent one of his own at his opponent however it was parried just as quickly as he sent it. It appeared that Uglug was quite decent with a blade. Although from then on Finn tried to stay on the offensive the massive goblin would not allow it, utilizing his brutal strength Uglug started to rain blow after blow at Finn.

Despite the fact the young hero was able to dodge and parry the blows; he could neither start an effective counter nor get some separation which he was getting desperate for. As a matter of fact he was getting driven back by the relentlessness of his attacking foe. Backpedalling furiously, Finn continued to parry blow for blow as the need for some separation went beyond a desperate need to a must. The speed of the attacks seemed to have increased as Uglug kept pushing on, using his brute strength to attempt to hack at his human foe.

Finn soon found himself in a position he did not want to be in, his back was against a tree. Not only that but with all the exertion for his defence, the young hero's sweat was pouring off him, hindering his further attempts of protection. His breathing ragged, air was struggling to reach his lungs, however despite this, he refused to lower his guard. Seeing how exhausted the human was, caused Uglug to sneer at him in absolute glee.

"I don't know how you escaped my kin human, but I promise you, there's no escape this time, I'll butcher your corpse!"

Finn knew he was in trouble, and the only way out was to do something daring. As the goblin licked his lips in anticipation, the young hero decided on his course of action. As Uglug the goblin went for yet another hack, Finn ducked. The strike narrowly missed his head as it sailed on by, unfortunately for the goblin; the sword embedded itself in the tree. Taking advantage of this, Finn quickly rose to his feet and danced behind his enemy, but not before slicing open its stomach. With a roar of pain, the goblin left the sword embedded in the tree to hold his wound. Taking advantage of the goblins predicament, Finn aimed a powerful strike at its neck. Finding its target, the young hero's sword removed Uglug's head from his shoulders.

Finn let out a sigh of relief that the fight was finally over. Moving to the tree, the human gazed at the demon sword lovingly. It had felt like an age since he held it last and the want to hold his adoptive father's sword only increased at the mere sight of it. He was so absorbed; he failed to notice a goblin sneaking up behind him, killing intent rife in its eyes.

Just as it was about to pounce upon him, Finn felt its presence. Whirling around just as the goblin raised its sword; the young hero thought and reacted quickly. Raising both arms, Finn gave his foe a quick shove. Stumbling backwards a few steps caused the goblin to sneer at the teenager. Correcting itself, the goblin once again took a step forward, however an arrow between the eyes stopped its progress forever. A voice from the camp soon followed.

"That's twice I've save your butt, hurry up and grab your gear!"

Snapping back to reality, Finn quickly ran over to his pack. Opening it, he found his food gone, but everything else remained untouched. _'They only used my food then, they didn't need any of my actual gear.'_ The young hero thought to himself as he swung the backpack onto his shoulders. He sprinted over to his sword to retrieve it, laying the borrowed one besides him on the grace for now. He have his sword a few hard tugs at it soon came loose in his hand.

The blade was as usual, flawless. Despite the wear and tear it had just gone through, there was not a single chip or scratch on the piece of art. The moonlight that shone directly onto it gave an almost holy glow as it sparkled entrancingly. Any fool could tell it was a blade of power. Its pommel remained a sharp spike for when enemies got extremely close and personal. The circled cross guard, as both Finn and Jake said, was a sign that the sword was meant to ward off evil despite its origins. Yet despite all these features, Finn did not care for the blades cosmetics, he did not care that the blade never dulled or that its powerful beauty was a beacon of hope in Ooo. All the young hero care about was the fact that it reminded him of his adoptive father, Joshua. The loving memories of his adoptive family meant that the sword would always have a special place in the hero's heart.

Sighing to himself, as thinking of family currently only made him feel sadness and guilt, Finn strode back in the direction of the goblin's former camp. On his arrival he immediately saw that his current ally had been productive. He had stashed the bodies of the dead goblins with the other corpse pile that they already had, removing a potential eye-sore from immediate view. He had already done the checks on his weapons, cleaning and maintaining both bow and swords. He had also retrieved the arrows he had used from the dead corpses, save for the one that finished off the goblin that had snuck away. The archer was sitting by the fire with a happy smile on his face. As Finn walked over to him he cracked open an eyelid and sent a beaming smile his way.

"Oh what's this!? Still alive are we? Great! Exactly what I expected from you. Anyway!" With this Jonathon raised himself from the ground and gave the teenager his full attention. "So Finn, you've got your gear back, what will you do now?"

Finn was not prepared to answer the question. He had not given it much thought, but if he was really honest, it was not the right time at any moment over the past couple of hours. But now he faced a life changing choice. Go on into the unknown alone or go with a friend. Finn had finally decided that Jonathon was a good guy who could help him out in the wild to survive, yet the young hero could not help but think about the reasons why he left Ooo.

' _I left to get away from people, to stop myself from hurting them!'_ The thought taking the opportunity, into jumped into his head. _'Should I really travel with someone that I could end up hurting again, would I be a burden?'_ Finn's self –confidence issues showed themselves again from all the depression that had crippled him. _'But I've actually enjoyed his company, and if this whole experience has shown me one thing, it's that the outside world is tougher than Ooo is.'_

Finn's mind quickly replayed what was only his first real adventure outside of Ooo and how he had struggled to adapt. After it finished one thing was clear. He needed his new friends' help. _'I barely survived today. I have to stick with him!'_

"Jonathon!" Finn began as he mustered his courage to ask him. "Today has shown me two things. One, that I need help to survive and two, that you're someone who can help me. You've already done so much for me, but I need another favour. Will you let me travel with you? I already consider you a friend and I think I could use the company."

Finn looked wit hopeful eyes at Jonathon, but what he found was an impassive expression that made him falter. Before Finn could add to what was already said, Jonathon began to speak in a monotone voice.

"I thought something like this might happen. Sorry Finn, but I travel alone."

Rejection. All his hope of having a travelling companion, gone. Before he could go too far down inside his own mind in dejection, wallowing in self-pity and sadness all the way, a laugh rang out across the camp.

Finn looked up to see Jonathon practically rolling around on the floor laughing himself into a fit. This lasted around a full minute as the boy hero looked at the archer in genuine confusion, as the older man laughed himself into hysterics. Finally regaining the ability to speak, Jonathon stood and faced Finn with the biggest, widest grin present on his lips.

You shouda… You should've seen your face! It was Priceless!" Finn rightfully felt quite a large prick of irritation at his words but before he could express his deep annoyance, his friends face turned soft and a warm smile replaced his grin.

"Of course you can travel with me Finn, It'd be awesome taking you along and having a travelling buddy!" The teenager's face burst forth with hope and joy lighting it up.

"Really? You're actually letting me come with you?!" This caused a short laugh to come from Jonathon as he answered hastily.

"Of course I am! I already scavenged up extra food supplies and the last two useable tents from the goblins, we' all set! It's just as I said, I thought something like this would happen!"

At this news, Finn joined in with the raucous laughter. High-fiving the archer, he quickly yelled out, "Thank you so much! I can't wait to start!"

Jonathon chuckled at the teenager's enthusiasm. "Don't worry, this will be the adventure of a lifetime!"

This caused Finn excitement to sky-rocket to a height they had not been for a long time. Before he could stop himself, the young hero screamed out,

"This is going to be mathematical!"

He looked at Jonathon with a toothy grin on his face, to see his friend repeating his same look from earlier. This caused Finn to blush deeply with embarrassment as he spoke up sheepishly to bow enthusiast.

"Sorry, forgot you don't like that word."

Jonathon decided to shrug it off this one time and not worry the kid too much.

"Don't worry about it Finn, hey look! The sun's coming up!" He pointed towards the rising sun as it started to appear above the treetops, spreading a glorious morning throughout the forest. "We'll keep travelling for today and set up camp later on tonight."

Nodding in affirmation at the plan, Finn quickly asked if they were setting off immediately.

"Of course we are! You got all your gear?" Finn nodded again. "Good then there's no point in delaying! Come on Finn, adventure's waiting for us to find it!" With this, both young men set off eagerly, ready to start a brand new chapter of their lives. As they began to walk, Finn turned to Jonathon and quickly asked,

"Can I ask for one more favour please?" The archer was immediately suspicious of the request.

"Is this for some strange thing you do in Ooo again?" Finn's face held a deeply offended look as if he could not believe that Jonathon could think so lowly of him. Eye twitching in irritation, the young bowman motioned for Finn to ask his request.

"Can you ask me what time it is please?" Deciding that questioning the teenager would be pointless, the archer decided that just asking the question would make his life infinitely easier. With a confused and resigned sigh, Jonathon asked,

"What time is it?"

Finn instantly responded.

"Adventure Time!"

Silence.

Finn looked over to his friend to find he was no longer walking but just staring at him blankly. With a sigh, Jonathon began walking again overtaking the now stationary Finn while muttering something that sounded vaguely like 'mistake, travelling companions, and baby-sitting.' The young teen did not like that, not one single bit.

"Hey! Glob damn it, I'm not a kid!"

Jonathon just smirked mischievously as the two new friends pushed onwards towards their own, new adventure.


	4. A Royal Gathering

**So it's been a while hasn't it? Sorry about that but real life happens sometimes, I actually finished this at the end of March and then had to wait a month and a half to type it because Uni decided it would be a good time to put 19,000 words worth of essays to be due in the space of 6 weeks. (For a rough guide to how much that is, that's over my first 3 chapters of this story...).**

 **Personal problems have no helped either, yet I'm assured that I'm back to being healthy again! So hopefully it won't take half a year between chapters...**

 **Anyway the review system was down last time I updated so hopefully this time I should be able to actually see the ones posted! (If you didn't get some form of response from me, don't worry it's not anyone's fault it just fell that way!) But let's get onto the reviews!**

 **Ledgeion \- Thanks for the compliment, but this won't take that turn. While there maybe some personal moments between characters I'm not much of a harem writer really, I prefer to flesh out a handful of characters and go from there!**

 **The Book of Eli** **\- That's my main writing style! Glad you enjoyed it!**

 **FinalKingdomHearts** **\- It's here now! A bit too long a wait for my tastes but I finally did it!**

 **He23t** **\- Thanks for the positive feedback! Here it is all nice and ready :')**

 **DJ Rodriquez** **\- Thanks for all the feedback man! As for the generation gap, I won't say much but I will say I usually write everything for a reason ;)**

 **Thanks for the reviews guys! If I missed one I really am sorry, but it will teach me to post new chapters on the Christmas break! Now on with the story!**

* * *

 **A Royal Gathering**

The Candy Palace had never looked so extravagant. Banners spiralled around pillars and walls in a variety of shapes and colours that displayed the different royalties that were in attendance. Numerous princesses were dotted around casually engaging each other in conversation, all dressed primly with flowing dresses that gave the illusion they were gliding as they strode around making polite small talk. Altogether a perfect royal gathering.

Whether it would stay that way remained to be seen.

The news of Finn's disappearance had not yet grown beyond a whisper, yet that was about to change. Ooo was going to be shocked to the core. The question was how they were going to react. This piece of news, could potentially damage their homeland beyond repair.

This information was not unfamiliar to Princess Bubblegum. She knew the task ahead was going to be one of extreme difficulty, but it was a path they would all have to walk. However she was unsure if the other princesses would allow her too, most had a small crush on the teenage hero, and even if they did not, they all had a soft spot especially reserved for him.

Knowing this was making the Candy Princess more anxious. She was currently in a corner of the meeting room with Jake, Lady and Marceline. All four were gearing themselves up for the announcement that would shatter the illusion of safety that was present over Ooo.

"Tell me again, why are we announcing this last? I just want to get it over and done with." All the ladies sighed at Jake's question, leaving the canine looking sheepish.

"As we've said, it's so the other princess business can actually be addressed. If we told them about Finn first, the rest of the topics would be pushed aside and not given the proper attention they need." Explained Princess Bubblegum with a sigh while Lady and Marceline nodded at her words.

"Sorry guys, I just want to get it over so we can stop thinking about this." Jake got sad smiles from all of the women. Marceline put a comforting hand on his shoulder and said.

"Don't worry Jake. We all feel like that too. But we still have lives to live, which is why we have to get everything out of the way first." All present nodded at the Vampire's reasoning. Jake made moves to continue the conversation, however he was halted as a fiery figure crept into the hall.

Flame Princess had arrived and by her secretive entrance, she did not want to be seen.

The four friends quietly watched as she moved to her own corner, with an ever present Cinnamon Bun, and tried to hide herself away. It was the floating Vampire who broke their silence.

"How do you think she's doing?"

The answer was written on her face. Bags were under her eyes adding years to her face. Her flame appeared to be dimmed; a thought flickered through Princess Bubblegum's mind about Finn being a shining light that only left a pale illumination when he left.

What really gave away her anguish was her body language. Even at her tender age, Flame Princess held herself in a way that screamed royalty. However it seemed that her natural talent had vanished. She slouched, not standing tall and proud as she once did. She no longer stood out amongst the other princesses, nor did she want to. She wanted to be ignored. It showed the amazing yet deadly effect one person could have on so many different lives. Not just any person but a human. It was a testament to human nature, how after everything that had happened, they were still around to help shape the world.

Although these sorts of thoughts brought sadness to the group of four, it also inspired determination. Finn's memory, although painful, gave them a degree of strength to face their upcoming trials. Glancing at each other, the four nodded letting their friendship fill each other up, warming a cold situation.

It was at this moment Jake happened to catch Flame Princess' eye. He gave her a smile and a nod, which she happily returned. His gentle greeting seemed to give the elemental some confidence; she walked with more assurance while her posture improved significantly. She seemed to regain some of her lost royalty.

"She seems to have found some of her spark." Although everyone groaned at Jake's joke, they all secretly smiled. He had not made any recently and just having the one was comforting, on this day of all days, comfort was probably going to be one of the most important things they could wish for.

It appeared that the princesses were starting to settle down. Many appeared to be concluding their conversations and finding their way to their pre-determined seats. Sensing that she was needed to start the mass meeting, Princess Bubblegum strode regally to her erected stage, leaving Marceline to find her seat while Jake and Lady quickly went off to the side to be out of the way. Taking a moment, the Candy Princess looked over the assembled royalty who were waiting in polite silence for her to begin. She could not help but think about how much longer the room would stay this relaxed.

Taking a deep breath, the Princess fixed her face into a winning smile before launching into her greeting.

"Welcome royal leaders of Ooo. We are gathered to once again discuss news and to conduct business that will help our beloved homes flourish." There was a scattering of polite applause that the Candy Princess acknowledged with a smile before pressing on.

"Now more than ever, we must stand united. We have always been peaceful, even if we've had our problems; they have always been resolved in the end. Let us not forget that comradery now. Thank you."

Silence and confusion greeted the Princess' speech. Although there was an eventual applause, none of Ooo's royalty understood why the message was needed. They just assumed it was a 'Bubblegum thing' and ignored it. Said Princess had already guessed this would be the reaction and was already shrugging off the lacklustre response.

"Now that the formalities are out of the way, let's get down to business."

It had been roughly two and a half hours since the royal meeting had begun and Jake was finding it hard to stay awake. The princesses had been discussing everything Ooo and the canine seriously doubted there was anything left to be said. Yet here they were, two and a half hours later, and they were still going.

As he began to nod off once again, Lady's hand quickly found the back of his head, clipping it and keeping the unfortunate canine awake. Giving the mother of his children an exasperated look, he had secretly hoped for some understanding, instead all he got was a look of amusement and a sore head. Sighing at the lack of sympathy, Jake went back to listening to the discussions. Luckily for him, they appeared to be winding down and ending.

Breakfast Princess had just finished her speech and was returning to her seat. Knowing that this was the end of proceedings, Princess Bubblegum stood and slowly started to approach her audience, her heart hammering away in her ribcage. Scanning the audience, she quickly found Jake and Lady who were both looking at her with looks of apprehension marring their faces. This however, did not stop them from giving her an encouraging nod. Taking a deep breath the Candy Monarch began her final speech.

"And with that done our business is concluded. However I cannot dismiss you all yet, there is still one more piece of news to tell you." Muttering started amongst the royalty of Ooo at this announcement. Some were of a curious nature; they were intrigued as to what this new piece of information was and why it was so important. The rest were of annoyance, cursing the inconvenience for delaying the end of the gathering. No matter what was said, Princess Bubblegum silenced them with her raised hands. As quiet descended, she continued on.

"I'm afraid to say this is not good news Finn has left Ooo. He has left of his own free will and for reasons I will now tell you via this letter he left." This caused another round of frantic murmurs as the Candy Princess busied herself in finding the letter. Flame Princess once again seemed to shrink into herself.

As she did before, Princess Bubblegum brought quiet by raising her hands. Steeling her fraying nerves, she began to read the last words that Finn had left them. Not once did the monarch of the Candy Kingdom look at her audience, she did not want to see their reactions. She was unsure if she could take the glares that were sure to be thrown her way. And so she powered on, hoping that she could avoid any of the assured negative repercussions. Yet no matter how much she wanted the letter to never end, the end was fast approaching.

Bubblegum was beginning to panic. What would happen to her? She knew that every princess loved Finn and they were sure to take it out on her. It was at this moment she felt three separate presences nearby. Chancing a quick link up she saw Marceline, Jake and Lady all standing near her in solidarity. Smiling to herself briefly, the Candy Monarch was able to push on to the end.

As she finished the letter, Princess Bubblegum kept her head hung low in order to avoid the initial backlash. All that was left was a soul-shattering silence. It nearly drove the pink-haired princess to insanity. She expected screaming and shouting, people bursting into tears and cursing Glob, not this damned silence. Finally mustering her courage, Princess Bubblegum raised her head to face her judgement.

She was met with a sea of blank faces; there was not a drop of emotion to be found. Eventually it was Breakfast Princess who broke the spell, she began to laugh. It turned out to be contagious as soon the rest of Ooo's royalty joined in too, wiping tears of mirth from their eyes as the humour only increased. Eventually Breakfast Princess got a hold of herself before stuttering out.

"Ha! Good one PB you really had us going there. And that letter! So tragic if it wasn't for the fact it's fake. Tell Finn he can come out now, his pranks won't work on us!" The rest of the royalty all nodded cheerfully at this and began looking around, expecting Finn to emerge.

"This is not a joke BP, Finn really has left. He is no longer here to help Ooo." The serious tone coupled with the drained, tired look on Bubblegum's face, finally got their attention. Smiles were replaced with looks of disbelief as they all began to process the news. Then it started.

A handful of princesses reverted back to their blank stares, too in shock to register the growing chaos surrounding them. Some of the princesses burst into tears. Their favourite human had left them and there was nothing they could do about it. However the majority were angry and they voiced it mercilessly, knowing that their safe lives were now threatened.

"Everyone please calm down! I know it's painful now that he's gone, but Finn wouldn't want us to fall apart over this." Instead of calming the situation down, it only seemed to rile the crowd up more.

How would you know what Finn wants PB! You were one of the ones that drove him away!" Breakfast Princess' hateful cry was met by loud noises of agreement as the royals of Ooo continued to direct their ire at Princess Bubblegum.

"At least we all liked him, unlike you! You just used him for your own ends, always leading him on never giving him a clear answer!" A tearful Emerald Princess cried out in anguish as others tried to comfort the distraught woman. The Candy Monarch didn't know what to do. The comments made were cutting her deep, scarring her heart possibly forever. Luckily she was saved by a certain Vampire Queen.

"Hey, leave PB alone! She may have made some mistakes but she always cared about Finn. She's even risked her life to save him in the past!" Despite Marceline's logical response, Ooo's royalty were too deep in their own anger and despair to actually focus on the Vampire's wisdom. They instead began to jeer at her.

"Oh yes let's listen to the Vampire of all people! How does it feel knowing that you drove away one of your four friends? That you hurt him so much he left you just like everyone else. There's a pattern there don't you think?" Breakfast Princess' words ended any counter argument Marceline had. She had gone personal, hitting at her already unstable insecurities, forcing the Vampire inwards, cringing from the pain she always felt.

Lady, Jake and Bubblegum could only stand there gaping at the unbridled fury of Ooo's royalty. They had expected anger but not anywhere close to this level. Marceline may never recover from the words of the wrathful princesses; the level of personal humiliation was going too far. With determination, Jake stepped forward to face the crowd.

"Please everyone calm down. You're saying things you'll regret later. No one is to blame for what happened to Finn." However even Jake's words could not calm the storm and the crowd's rage turned on him.

"And why should we listen to you? You betrayed your own brother. You left him alone through his heartbreak and pain. You're selfish Jake; you couldn't even look after your family. How do you expect to look after your kids if you couldn't even look after Finn?"

He was not sure who said it, but it was like they had been reading his mind for the last few weeks. All the doubt came flooding back, as he cowered away from the crowd, as others took up the cry and hurled angry barbs at the four friends.

They showed no signs of stopping either as anger clouded their consciences; however the four were given a glimmer of hope when another random voice spoke up.

"What about Flame Princess, she broke Finn's heart too!" Again angry cheers greeted this declaration as the mob turned to ridicule the Fire Elemental. However her reserved sea lay vacant. She had slipped out when they were distracted. Howling with anger, the mob turned back around to continue their onslaught at the remaining perpetrators, but the stage was also now vacant.

The four friends had left when they realised there was no reasoning with their old friends.

As there was no one left to direct their anger at, the crowd began to mutter amongst themselves for a few minutes. When it became clear that no one would return, the mob dispersed, still fuming at the news that they had received. Some just wanted to get back to their kingdom to rest. A handful wanted to ponder on the evenings events, while the majority wanted revenge. Despite the differing emotions one thing was true.

Their unity was broken and it would cost them dearly.

The four friends watched as their 'guests' left the Candy Palace each with their own emotions running haywire. They did not expect old friends to turn on them so harshly. They had expected anger certainly, but to be basically declared as the enemies of Ooo was quite extreme. It was Bubblegum who broke the toxic silence that was choking them all.

"I think it best you all stay with me for the foreseeable future. As much as it hurts to say, you're not safe around Ooo for the time being."

Marceline opened her mouth to argue, but could not deny the truth. The hatred herself and her friends were treated with from the other royalty made her feel tainted, as if her whole life was a disgusting mistake. As much as she could survive by herself, she did not feel safe at the moment.

Joining Jake and Lady in their reluctant agreement to stay, Marceline could only hope that with each other's support, they could get through this tragic time.

"You can go fetch your things tomorrow, going out tonight would be… unwise." They all nodded at Bonnibel's wisdom, not saying a word, starring at the retreating forms of Ooo's royalty.

They began to slowly leave, first Marceline floated away to nurse her prevalent insecurities. She was soon followed by Jake and Lady, as the Rainicorn whisked her man away to help alleviate his doubts and his aching conscience. This left Princess Bubblegum to stare at the night sky in solitude.

What she found amusing was the fact that she could not focus on anything, her mind was totally blank. Usually scientific discoveries, princess duties and responsibilities would be running through her mind constantly as she tried to balance out her life, but now there was nothing there.

It was a strange sensation. The peace she often dreamed about gave her no pleasure. There was no enjoyable relaxation, just an empty emotionlessness that did not even scare her. She realised she was welcoming it with no fight whatsoever.

Sighing to herself, Bonnibel turned from the window and walked to her bedroom to get some must needed rest. After all, it was her that would have to deal with the fallout of this meeting. And it was certainly going to be painful.

* * *

Flame Princess hurried through her palace, ignoring all hails and calls from her staff and guards in her haste for isolation. She could not stop the sliver of shame that came from her retreat but she could not bear to see the furious faces of her peers as they cursed her existence at the way she hurt Finn, driving him away from them.

It did not help that many viewed her as the thief of Finn's affections anyway, stealing his love when she should have let him be. She really made some enemies and now they had real ammunition to hate her.

As she approached her chambers, she abruptly whirled around to face the worried Cinnamon Bun who had been following for the entire time.

"CB, lock down the borders and double the guards. I don't know what's going to happen from now on but we need to be careful."

With a grim nod, the pastry ran off to make sure his princess' orders were adhered to. Quickly spinning back around, Flame Princess burst through her bedroom doors, slamming them shut behind her. Briskly striding to her bed, Phoebe threw herself into the covers, burying her face into the pillow as she sobbed out,

"Finn, please. I need you."

* * *

A single cloaked figure walked down a long, black corridor coming to a door that matched the gloomy atmosphere perfectly. The figure walked with elegant steps, giving an impressive aura that was tainted with evil. Upon reaching the door the figure did not hesitate, swinging it open, the cloaked person quickly made their way into the oppressive darkness as it greedily swallowed him whole.

The figure's eyes quickly adapted to the pitch black, it spied on the far wall a single desk and chair, the rest of the room lay bare except for a bed on the opposite wall of the desk. Sitting with their back turned to the intruder was another figure one that had a hood covering their features.

"What news?" The hooded figure did not waste time. It wanted information, it wanted the news it had waited for.

"The human is gone, Ooo stands divided." The hooded figure stood up at this and turned to face its comrade with a wicked grin.

"You may leave." Bowing to the cloaked figure quickly withdrew from the room, leaving only the hooded figure to bask in the information it was provided.

"So the boy hero is gone and the rest are at each other's throats. Ooo is ready to fall."

* * *

"So you've got no idea where we're going?" He was trying to be as calm as possible, yet Finn could not keep the drop of annoyance out of his voice. They had been walking for days without Jonathon giving any sense of direction.

"I thought I told you that this area is new to me. I've never been here before." The young hero's eye began twitching at this reply and it did not take him long to voice his displeasure.

"What do you mean you've never been here before!? I've been following you for ages!" He knew he should not rant but Finn was starting to get bored. He expected non-stop action from this adventure; however all he had for his troubles were sore feet and no fighting. It had been too long since he was able to swing his sword at the enemy.

Stopping in his tracks, Jonathon turned to address his irritated friend, his cloak billowing out behind him in the gentle breeze. Despite the air of authority he was producing the archer was wearing a completely blank, bored expression, similar to the one Finn had not too long ago.

"Look kid, neither of us have been in this area before and frankly I'm the more experienced out in the wild. That's why I'm leading." Finn once again grew angry at the mention of his age and inexperience, allowing a fully formed scowl to appear as he began muttering under his breath.

None of this seemed to faze the elder of the two. In fact, Finn's annoyance only served to amuse the archer. _'I don't think he'll ever learn.'_ Jonathon thought as he imagined fresh ways to tease Finn.

"Ah! You just need to learn some patience." This made then teenager refocus a death glare at his friend as said 'friend' began chuckling to himself. It did not take long for Ooo's protector to respond much to the continued amusement of Jonathon as he realised what was about to happen.

"Hey! I'm super patient! You don't know what you're talking about." The archer nodded his head solemnly, desperately holding in the laugh that was threatening to spill out at any moment. Deciding to ignore his companion for the time being, Finn looked around the area they were currently in.

They had left the forest some time ago, entering into a grassy plain that seemed to stretch on forever. Although there was a plentiful amount of vegetation and a decent amount of fresh water from rivers, there seemed to be no signs of civilisation anywhere.

"Figured it out yet?" Finn jumped at Jonathon's voice interrupted his musings. Focusing on what was asked, the teenager had no clue what his friend was asking.

"What do you mean?" The young hero responded with, still not working out the question. Jonathon looked around at their surroundings for a while before turning back to Finn and explaining himself.

"In a place like this, with so many resources available, you'd expect some sort of civilisation I know that there can be many excuses not to put a town in a certain location, but there hasn't even been any travellers or adventurers. Something isn't right."

Now Finn was on edge, he knew that these plains were giving him a bad feeling and now he knew why. Gazing around him suspiciously, the teen raised his guard, refusing to drop it now that there could be danger close by. Looking over at Jonathon, he found that his friend was much the same, shifting his eyes left and right as if they were already surrounded by enemies.

"Let's push on for now, no point staying in one place for too long." Agreeing with the archer's assessment, Finn quickly started to follow his friend again, the morbid feeling not leaving.

They had been walking for a few hours when Jonathon suddenly stopped and started to examine the ground, freaking Finn out with the strangeness.

"Hey what gives with the random junk?" The young hero inquired as his friends continued to stare at the ground in silence. Carrying on his odd behaviour, the archer sprung up and looked at the sky, surprised to see the sun setting. Turning around to Finn, Jonathon soon gave some orders to his young friend.

"It's getting late, think we'll camp here for tonight. Get the tents up and I'll scrounge us up some food. Best not to risk a fire tonight." Finn gapped as his friend failed to answer is question and cracked on with other tasks instead. Wanting answers Finn continued his questioning.

"Don't ignore me! What has you acting all funky?" Jonathon paused and looked up at Finn an unusual look of seriousness on his face.

"I'll tell you after camp is set up." He began foraging through their bags, finding food that did not require cooking. Sighing to himself, the young hero decided it was best to just do as he was told for the time being. And so off he went, erecting the tents so they both could get some rest.

It had taken about an hour to make camp, every minute that went by excruciating for the young hero. He desperately wanted to know what Jonathon had found yet his friend had kept tight lipped on the subject, doing his work in a brooding silence until the moment he wanted to reveal his information.

The time was just after the sunset and the light of day was transforming into the darkness of the night. They were sat outside their tents waiting in silence for one of them to break the ice. It was as Finn could not take the silence anymore that Jonathon finally spoke.

"Do you know what I found Finn?" Playing it cool, the teenager shook his head as slowly as possible trying to hide his over-enthusiasm. However his archer companion did not seem to notice or care. He had a face of seriousness that was not often seen on his face. Whatever he was about to say was a matter that needed attention.

"I found tracks Finn." This caused the young hero to perk up; after all finding tracks was a good thing. Yet Jonathon's face told a different tale. His mouth was set in a frown and his already dark eyes seemed to be blackened under the weight of the news. Finn was starting to feel worried; he tentatively decided to question his friend to discover what was eating away at him.

"But finding tracks is good right? What could be wrong with that?" Looking up to the night sky, Jonathon sighed to himself as he prepared to answer.

"They appeared out of nowhere, and that concerns me. It can mean two things in my mind, one, that we are dealing with someone who has the use of magic, or two we are dealing with people who know how to hide. If it's the latter, they don't feel the need to hide themselves anymore and that makes them dangerous." Finn once again, could only gape at the information he heard, however he quickly began to realise a potential problem with their camp sight.

"Wait. Isn't our camp directly next to their tracks? Aren't we in danger!?" The young man seemed unfazed by the panicking of his younger companion.

"Relax Finn, a magic user won't bother to come back to erase his tracks, and if these tracks belong to the latter, they won't want to come back this way, this is actually quite a safe place." Finishing his explanation, Jonathon finally looked down into Finn's eyes before resuming.

"Go to sleep, there's little change anything will be bothering us or the time being. However I have a feeling that after tomorrow that is going to change."

Taking his friends advice, the hero of Ooo opened his tent and began to settle down for the night, despite the warning, a shot of excitement coursed through his body. The adventure looked like it was finally underway.

It turned out Jonathon was right, nothing did happen and Finn had a night of restful slumber. As he left his tent, he was greeted by a glorious sunrise as it began to peak over the horizon, a cloudless pink sky heralding in the new day. The birds had also awakened and were flying about, singing for all to hear as they began their quest for food.

It appeared that Jonathon was also awake as well. The archer seemed to be enjoying the crisp morning air as he was facing away from the camp with his eyes closed; it almost seemed that he was in a trance. Approaching him, Finn decided to sit beside him quietly and wait until he was finished whatever he was doing.

However as soon as the young hero sat down, Jonathon opened his eyes and looked over to him with a smile. It did not end there as the older man passed over Finn's breakfast. Deciding that hunger was a more pressing matter than social intervention, the teenager dug in with gusto, enjoying every bite. This did not appear to bother Jonathon in the slightest, he went back to gazing at the horizon as if it held some secret for him to uncover.

As Finn finished his food, he turned to finally start talking to his new friend.

"What you thinking about?" He questioned, intrigued to know just what was going through his fellow adventurer's mind. Actively, Jonathon left his mind as he let his thoughts out in the form of words.

"Just about the day ahead, nothing special." He gave the young hero another smile as he stood and walked towards his tent. Before reaching it, the archer turned with a deadly serious expression on his face.

"Finn, be on your guard from now on. I don't know what lies ahead." Although surprised by the maturity that his friend was showing, the teenager quickly nodded his head, showing that he had heard the instructions loud and clear. Knowing that his advice was being headed, Jonathon made it the rest of the way to his tent in order to dismantle it.

"We're breaking camp soon, you should start getting ready." With another nod, Finn moved towards his tent in order to take it down.

Half an hour later, both adventurers were ready to resume their travels. With full packs, they grinned at each other for the promising adventure ahead.

"Are you ready Finn? This could be dangerous." The young hero's response was to widen his grin.

"That's what I'm counting on." With determined smirks, the pair set off with Jonathon leading, following the tracks in hopes of finding civilisation.

It had been around two hours since they had resumed their journey, following the tracks into the unknown. The tension had built up massively since they broke camp; only increasing with every step they took. Until at last, after what felt like such a long time, they saw smoke rising from the horizon.

Finn risked a look at his companion; however a frown marred his face, the seriousness not suiting his friend in the slightest. He may have only known him for a short time, yet he was used to the happy, teasing man that was helping him deal with his recent past, yet the situation did not call for humour. Turning to the archer fully, Finn decided to consult on the situation.

"Jonathon what do we do now?" The man in question stopped his ceaseless starring, turning to face his friend with a deadly look in his eye.

"We follow the smoke to the source." They young hero could not stop the tingle of anticipation that went up his spine at this sentence.

"Isn't that going to be dangerous?" Jonathon's face morphed from serious to sadistic in the blink of an eye, scaring Finn, an achievement in and of itself. There were not many that could claim such a thing. Before the young hero could muster a response, the archer began walking, not seeming to care about the question. But just as he thought he was being ignored, his friend called back over his shoulder.

"Oh it's certainly going to be dangerous."

The entire town was a smouldering wreck. Most of the buildings had collapsed under the assault of fire, unable to support themselves any longer. Bodies and various parts littered the streets as blood pooled around them, the familiar coopery smell enough to make the inexperienced warrior gag at a mere whiff. They had already started to decay in the mid-afternoon sim, adding the scent of dying flesh to the stench of blood.

The bodies themselves seemed mutilated beyond any recognition; cuts littered the corpses seeming that they were butcher before death was granted. On closer inspection the wounds had begun to fester, flies made it their home and maggots were already starting to worm their way in and feed. A bloody end to a peaceful place. Finn could only look in shock; he had never seen anything like this before. Although Ooo had its enemies, and he had seen people die, this level of sadistic horror was beyond his experience.

"Finn! Are you alright?!" Jonathon's words seemed to come from a great distance. The young hero turned to face his friend, mouth slightly agape and a faraway look in his eyes. Seeing Finn in a said state, the young man let out a sigh. Moving in front of his young friend, the archer grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him gently.

"Finn! Finn! I know this is a shock but you need to snap out of it. I need you at your best right now." His words slowly got through to him as the defender of Ooo returned to the present. Jonathon chuckled as Finn started to regain control.

"There he is, welcome back." Looking into his dark eyes, the young hero felt anger bubble inside of him at the casual tone that the archer was using, throwing his friend's arm off of him; he immediately began to berate him.

"How can you be so calm? How can you laugh? Can't you see what's happened around us? Are you that heartless that this doesn't bother you?" Jonathon took a moment to carefully gage his friends temper. After a moment, the archer answered with a voice that sounded older than time itself.

"This is a tragedy, no doubt, but I've seen worse. As sorry as I feel for these people, it's too late for me to help them so I won't let it affect me." Finn saw the almost dead look in his friends' eye. He was about to retort when a high pitched squeal out through the air, shaking the pair.

Moving at once, both Finn and Jonathon sprinted towards the noise, forgetting their argument for the time being. The rubble of houses and shops flew by as they made their way towards the town square. Flying round the final corner, their eyes focused on a horrific situation.

A young girl, no older than ten was being cornered by three figures. Skin seemed to be falling off of them, adding to the fowl decaying flesh around them. Despite the fact their muscles were stretched too thinly over their bones, they seemed to be able to walk perfectly as if some magic drove them on. They were the undead and all of them were armed with swords.

Without so much as a hesitation, Jonathon pulled out his bow and notched an arrow. Taking careful aim at the undead closest to the girl, the archer loosed his missile. It struck true, the arrow burrowing into the enemies head. The corpse dropped, its weapon clattering to the floor with the body, landing all together in a heap. This drew the attention of the final two who turned and slowly made their way towards the two warriors.

"Finn, you have to take off their heads, it's the only sure-fire way to put them down." The young hero had totally ignored the archer and charged at one of the two remaining foes with his demon sword drawn, running it through when he was close enough. The undead seemed to notice that there was a sword penetrating its body, and with a howl, the corpse raised its sword intent on ending Finn's life.

The teenager could only watch as the sword came directly at him, trying to ignore the almost certain death that awaited him on contact. Closing his eyes, Finn braced himself for an untimely end. However a sudden rush of air passed his face followed by the sound of a clatter of a sword hitting the floor before he could meet his demise. Carefully opening his eyes, the young hero was met with a slumped corpse with an arrow piercing its left eye. Looking over at Jonathon, Finn saw that his friend had shot the undead at some expense.

The archer was dodging the corpse's attacks as they narrowly missed him, unable to find the time to switch from his bow to his twin swords. The enemy was surprising fast, slashing multiple times in quick succession. It was pure experience that was keeping his companion alive. Thinking quickly, Finn kicked the undead off of his sword before charging over to help his friend.

Running at top speeds, Finn reached his struggling friend hastily, aiming a conceit slash at the monsters neck. The young hero struck true, severing the creatures head, saving Jonathon's life. As the undead feel to the floor, its head rolling off further into the town as the archer took a second to gather himself again. Breathing deeply, the older man turned to address his friend.

"You may have totally ignored what I said, but at least you got a chance to be my hero! I'd say that balances everything out." As they both looked at each other, they burst into laughter, both getting too close to death for comfort. They knew this was neither the time nor the place to burst into a random bout of hysterics, yet their uncontrollable giggling split the silence of the now decimated town.

"I'd say that saving your life is worth more than ignoring your advice." Finn gasped as he continued to chuckle. They were both lost in the post-fight feeling, not really paying attention to their surroundings.

"I saved your life as well, that means you technically still owe me then!" Jonathon quickly retaliated with a massive grin, both panting, out of breath as the adrenaline finally left their bodies. Looking up into the sky, the archer quickly finished with, "Don't worry though, I'll let it slide this time!"

They both grinned at each other again, Finn bowing graciously yet cheekily at Jonathon's kindness. The archer responded with a slap around the back of his friends head, as they both gave thanks that they had survived another fight. They allowed a silence to fall between them so they could greater appreciate the fact that they were alive. Although they were warriors, they still wanted to live their lives. Pride can be a corrupting force, but just enough can keep you going for as long as it is needed.

"Erm…excuse me…" Both Jonathon and Finn jumped, totally surprised that the peace had been disturbed. Turning to the source of the voice, they saw the young girl who was attacked earlier, starring at the both of them in awe. Both warrior starred back for a while taking in her appearance.

She was the right height for someone her age however that was the only thing that did not stand out about her. She had green skin; the shade of summer grass, Finn was ideally reminded of Muscle Princess' skin as Jonathon looked on ever the observer. She had a cute button nose and wide eyes, adding to her childish innocence. What was really noteworthy about her eyes though was the fact that one was a gorgeous sea blue and one was the reflection of her own skin. They were quite charming, leading both Finn and Jonathon to have a slight bit of jealousy towards just how amazing they were. She had long chestnut hair that framed her face, although it was currently knotted and matted, but after what happened to the poor girl that was hardly a surprise. Before they could take in anymore, the girl opened her mouth and continued her speech shyly at the older strangers.

"I'm Mia, thank you for saving me."

* * *

 **One or two more things!**

 **1) The undead are based on the Draugr from Skyrim.**

 **2) The young girl Mia (and here entire town) are actually inspired by Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy, despite the fact that I'll be going more fantasy, the more traditional races will probably come into play later.**

 **Thank you for reading, I'll be back soon!**


	5. The Rings of Atraxia

**The Rings of Atraxia**

Both Jonathon and Finn stared at the girl for a full minute, neither saying a word, Mia starring right back at them nervously as she began to dance from foot to foot under their intense gazes. Then, a certain archer's mood switched totally out of the blue. Jonathon bounded over to the child, skidding to a stop, he knelt down to her level so they could talk eye-to-eye.

"Hey there, Mia was it?" The young girl nodded in response.

"Well hey there Mia I'm Jonathon and he's Finn! We're travellers you see, trying to take in new places. Do you know what happened here?"

Mia began to relax at the overly friendly archer. She offered him a small smile; however, that quickly vanished when the question got through to her. Tears began to form at the corner of her eyes as the memories of what had happened resurfaced and she collapsed to her knees, hands going to her eyes and she gave up on any resistance and let the tears fall.

"I was just staying with my auntie and uncle. Momma and Papa went to the city for a few days and I was staying with them until they came home. Last night we had just finished having our dinner when we heard screams from outside. My uncle rushed out to see what was going on but came back a few minutes later looking really scared. He dragged me to my favourite hiding place before telling me to stay there until he came back. But he never came back. I spent hours waiting and I got bored so I came out to see what was going on."

Both Jonathon and Finn winced at this; they knew what was coming next.

"The whole town was like how they are now. I tried to shake some of them but they wouldn't wake up. Then I found my auntie and uncle but they didn't wake up straight away, they woke up after about a minute and changed into those." She pointed at the now dead figures that they had engaged when they entered the village.

Finn began to feel slightly ill, had they really just killed a poor child's relatives in front of her face? It appeared that every fight he had, was taking him further and further away from being a hero. He was so lost in his thoughts he barely realised that Jonathon was trying to get his attention until he felt his partner's hand on his shoulder as he shook him lightly.

"Finn we need to get out of here, there may be some residual magic left and I have a very good idea what will happen if we're caught up in it." He indicated at the recently killed relatives of Mia, his face showing that even he was affected by what was obviously happening. Turning back towards the young girl, the archer forced a comforting smile to form on his face.

"Hey Mia, do you know where the city is?" The girl nodded after a moment's thought. Raising her finger, she pointed due east, Jonathon taking careful note before deciding on what to do. Lifting the Young Girl onto his shoulders, and ignoring the surprised squeal that came from her at his actions, the archer addressed his friend as he gave one last gaze around the village.

"What do you think about heading for the city and finding out more information?" Finn gave a small noise of confirmation, letting Jonathon take the lead as they prepared to move out. The young hero took a final moment to look around the remnants of what was once a humble abode, eyes downcast, vowing to try harder to never let this happen again.

Looking over to his two companions, he saw that they had already started to wonder in the direction that Mia had pointed to earlier. Jogging to catch up, Finn fell into step beside them, getting an easy smile from Jonathon and a shy one from Mia. With the party now together, they set off leaving behind the devastation of the village. As the group slowly turned to silhouettes in the horizon, a final deathly silence descended, leaving only the memories of a bustling community, their laughs, smiles and conversations left to the winds blowing through the emptiness.

And so they walked on for hours. Mia had long since dozed off, maintaining a tight grip on the top of Jonathon's head. Said archer, however, had said little over the time passed since their experience in the village, Finn was unsure whether this was because he was simply mulling over what had happened or if he was simply concentrating on getting them to safely to the city their new companion had talked about. Either way, the young hero had things he wanted to talk about but knew better than to approach them straight away.

As the day began to end, Jonathon called Finn over to him to have a quick conversation.

"As you can see it's getting dark and we need a place to camp out for the night, can you handle it?" The younger of the two nodded not responding with words, however, his silence seemed to convey its true meaning to his friend anyway.

"We'll talk later, I have a feeling it won't be a pleasant topic for this one." He gestured up at the snoozing child still using his head as a pillow. It seemed the past few days had exhausted her, not that Finn felt any better. But surely she felt the effects more when she was the one that lost almost everything.

Nodding at Jonathon, the hero moved away to look for a suitable place to sleep for the evening, leaving his friend to tend to Mia. After about ten minutes of scouting ahead, Finn found a scattering of trees. Nowhere near a forest but enough to keep them hidden from sight at a casual glance. He could at least feel a bit of security from sleeping there.

Running back to his friends, Finn soon guided them to their sleeping place for the night. Nodding with approval, Jonathon wordlessly handed Mia to his friend before vanishing into the night for about half an hour before reappearing looking a bit more happy with the circumstances.

After giving Finn a brief nod he wordlessly began to set up camp, setting up the tents and even starting a small fire. After finishing his set up, Jonathon reached into one his pouches he grabbed some rations, heating them up a bit before tossing some to Finn, waking up Mia so she could eat as well.

They all ate in a strange silence, all with their faces down in their food. Mia finished first, already sleepy the girl stood, not really sure what to do before Jonathon spoke up.

"Don't worry we have a tent just for you. It's the one on the right, I already set up a bed for you to fall into. I figured you'd still be tired." Giving a muted giggle Mia waved at both of her new companions before plodding over to the tent, letting the flap close behind her, leaving the two outside in silence.

Despite the fact they were now alone, neither broke the quiet just yet, finishing off what little remained of their food. They both finished at the same time. Rising as one, they wordlessly made their way inside the remaining tent. Even in the bleakness, Finn could see that his friend had made two beds inside, choosing one quickly, the young hero settled down, looking over at his companion as he mirrored his actions.

"Where did you go before you set up camp?" Jonathon looked over to Finn's general outline before giving him the answer he wanted.

"Covering our tracks, I obviously didn't do all of them and we can still be traced, but for an inexperienced tracker, it will look like we just vanished into thin air." Nodding at the clever idea, the hero allowed quiet to once again blanket itself around them, however, Jonathon was not in the mood to mince his words.

"Talk about what you want to talk about Finn, there's no need to try and think of a tactful way of putting it here."

At his friends urging, the hero let loose everything he wanted to ask and say.

"We...we..."

Jonathon sighed wearily, eyes creasing at his next words.

"I know we killed some of Mia's family in front of her, it's not something I'd want to do again but it was necessary." That had not stopped the guilt from affecting Fin who was still squirming at the thought of what they had done.

"But we probably messed up Mia for life, how can we be sure that we made the right call?"

Jonathon rose from his position on the ground moving beside his doubting friend, collapsing in a heap next to him, the archer let out a long breath, staring off into the darkness of the tent, as he mulled over what was said.

"This will probably sound morbid to you, but I much prefer Mia alive rather than dead. Which without us, she would have ended up being. Hell for all we know she could have been brought back the same way her family were, and I personally don't like to think of an undead child laying into an unfortunate traveller. I know it's hard to swallow but we saved a girl's life today, without us she would be dead or worse, I'd say we did a good deed rather than a terrible one."

Finn gave his friend a pointed look before questioning his logic.

"Isn't that a bit simple?" This got a chuckle from Jonathon, who looked over at his friend with a small smile on his face.

"Of course it is, things only serve to get worse when we overthink everything and I've done enough of that for one lifetime. Look, Finn, I know this is tough for everyone but be assured we did a good thing."

Despite the reassurances, Finn sighed. He knew the archer was right but that did not mean the guilt and disappointment had gone away.

"It just seems that ever since I left on this journey we haven't really done things a hero would do."

Catching his companion's eye, Jonathon maintained the contact even through the difficulty of the night.

"I will admit that it is admirable you want to be a hero so badly I believe there should be a person like you for every person like me out there. But one realisation always seems to break your type Finn. The fact that you can't save everybody all the time. I've seen it destroy people who couldn't handle the fact that they had let one person die when they saved a group of others. You've already shown signs of it."

The young hero remained silent, letting Jonathon continue on with what he was saying.

"I know that you think it's not right that it looks like I don't care about the village but the fact is I do. I do wish I could have been there to try and save them from whatever it was that eventually killed them off, that Mia would be happy at home with her auntie and uncle not here travelling with two strangers into God knows what danger. I just know what will happen if I let those thoughts take control of me. So I do what I can for the living. That doesn't mean we shouldn't mourn those gone, but we shouldn't let our grief overrule our common sense."

Finn was not quite sure how to take that. While it certainly explained the way his friend behaved, he was not sure if he could ever achieve that state of mind. Unbidden another question forced its way out of his lips.

"How do you live that way, doesn't it eventually jack up your junk?"

A chuckle came out of the darkness at his turn of phrase, however, the archer did appear to be carefully considering his answer.

"It can do if you're not careful, just like how your outlook can mess with your mind. I'm pretty sure there are people who force themselves to have this frame of mind and they get found out when someone dies in front of them or an equally disastrous thing happens. It can lead to a breakdown, you've just go to not bottle everything up inside you."

Finn nodded at what Jonathon had said, it made him feel better knowing that his new friend was not an emotionless killing machine that cared little for others. He just helped those he could while not letting the deaths of those he could not save eat away at his conscience. He jumped slightly as a hand was placed on his shoulder, patting it a few times before a voice sounded out in the dark.

"Get some sleep Finn, today's been a long day, one of the longest I've had for a while. You must be exhausted. Leave the philosophical thinking for another day."

Finding that he agreed with the wisdom, the young hero laid his head down, shutting off his brain for the evening. Jonathon was right, the philosophy of being a hero could wait for another time.

The morning came far too quickly for Finn as his surroundings began to light up with the brightness of the rising sun. Groaning to himself he tried to pull his sleeping bag over his head to blot out the offending light, however, his struggles were for nought as he failed to get the said item to do what he wanted. Looking over at Jonathon there was some comfort in the fact that he seemed to be struggling just as much as he was.

The archer was also groaning, his hands covering his eyes in an attempt to fight off the inevitable morning. It appeared to be a losing battle as the poor man had to sit up and actually prepare for the day. Glancing over to Finn he gave his friend a quick nod before collapsing back attempting to regain his peaceful sleep.

The young hero rolled his eyes at the behaviour, sitting up to shake the poor archer back into wakefulness.

"Jonathon we have to wake up, Mia is probably awake now, we can't let her wander off by herself!"

This got another groan before he picked up on a mumbled sentence from his mumbling friend.

"Urgh from one kid to two, how did this happen to me?"

This once again caused an unfavourable reaction, bristling at the perceived insult Finn hit the archer square in his arm, making the man yelp in surprise before he levelled a glare at the assault on his person.

"What the hell was that for, don't you know you should never wake someone up by punching them, that's the way murders happen." Ignoring the obviously fake threat that came from his grouchy companion Finn prodded him once again now that he had his attention.

"Go and check on Mia, she's probably woken up by now." Reluctantly realising the younger man was speaking sense, Jonathon finally got up, standing and stretching to try and get his still asleep body to compile with his wishes. Moving over to the tent flaps and pulling them back expecting to reveal the morning sun, the archer instead jumped out of his skin at the sight of Mia standing at the entrance looking like the shyest child in the world. She struggled to maintain eye contact as she held her hands behind her back, fidgeting at the surprised look that graced her saviour's faces.

"Good morning sirs, I don't want to bother you, but... can we have some breakfast soon? I've been awake for a while and I got really hungry." Forcing the surprise off his face and sending a glare over his shoulder at the snicker that came from his friend, Jonathon walked out into the small glade patting Mia's head as he began to get the camp ready for their meal.

'Of course we'll have breakfast soon kid! I'd be just as upset as you if I ever missed a meal." This got a giggle from his small companion who gave him some small twigs she had collected to help rebuild the fire. Although he already had some logs saved up from the previous night, (and years of experience telling him that these twigs would not be enough to even start a small fire,) The archer still smiled taking the offering from the child before adding them with some more lumber and restarting the fire.

"Erm, mister Jonathon sir?" Looking over at Mia, he was surprised to see that her shyness had been replaced temporarily with intrigue as she was hard in thought about something.

"Just Jonathon is fine kid, I've never been comfortable being called sir." Nodding in agreement the child continued on with her questioning.

"Jonathon, what is Hell?" Realising that Mia had probably heard what was said in the tent, the archer took some comfort in knowing that she obviously had no idea he was mildly swearing at his friend. Speaking of which, his newfound travelling companion was just stepping foot out of the tent at the sound of the fire crackling. Still a bit peeved at being forced out of bed, Jonathon found his response quickly as he eyed the other man in slight annoyance.

"Hell is where Finn is going if he ever even thinks about walking me up by hitting me again." Rolling his eyes at the fact that his friend was still grumpy, Finn settled down to wait for Jonathon to start cooking breakfast. Looking over at Mia, he saw an even more confused look on the young girl's face.

"Don't worry about it too much Mia, he's just grumpy because he hasn't eaten yet." He smiled at the giggle he got in response, however, it quickly turned strained as his thoughts drifted to Jake, another who had to eat first before the mood to actually embrace the day came around. He let himself drift into memory, trying to not let his feelings of anguish show but it seemed that his effort was fruitless. Jonathon seemed to pick up what he was thinking easily moving over and putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Breakfast will be ready soon, don't get too lost in your thoughts." Finn smiled and nodded at the words, causing his fellow adventurer to smile and give him a pat on the back as he went back to preparing their food.

Luckily for everyone, the wait was only for a short time. Jonathon quickly handed out some basic porridge that he had somehow managed to get to actually have a pleasant taste. Finn quickly realised how lucky he was that he always seemed to find the good cooks, first Jake and now Jonathon. It was probably for the best that he was never allowed near an oven. Out of control fires and burnt rations were never a good thing.

After their meal was finished, they broke camp as quickly as possible eager to be underway and to get to proper civilisation. As Finn was taking down the tents, the elder man turned to Mia to see if he could gather a bit more information about where they were headed.

"Hey Mia, not to put you on the spot or anything but do you know the name of the city where we're headed?" The girl nodded excitedly as her thoughts shifted to the place where her parents were hopefully residing.

"It's called Atraxia! There are so many people there and it's huge! There are so many different shops to go to, Momma always took me with her when she went shopping, we had to leave Papa behind though, he never seemed to enjoy it as much as me and Momma."

Ignoring the obvious plight of his fellow man (although he did spare a smirk at the thought), Jonathon continued on his questioning, trying to get some more details.

"That sounds wonderful! I'm sure you're looking forward to seeing your parents again. But I need to know if we're heading in the right direction and if we are, how long it will take us to get to Atraxia."

After mulling over the request for a minute, Mia finally found the answer she was looking for, a beaming smile coming to her face as she worked out the problem.

"I don't think it's far from here, I think it's less than a day now!"

Smiling at the enthusiastic response, Jonathon held up his hand gesturing to Mia, she jumped at the chance immediately high-fiving the man with a giggle. Picking up the still laughing girl and placing her on his shoulders once again, before turning to check on the dismantlement of the camp.

Turning around to check on Finn's progress, the archer was pleased to see that his friend was just about finished and the last tent was just about packed. Going over to his companion he patted the shoulder of the young hero, gesturing to him to follow so they could set off. Looking over the area one more time and finding that they had not left anything unpacked Jonathon started to walk away, Mia still on his shoulders and Finn walking by his side.

The next few hours turned out to be therapeutic for a certain Teenager, Mia's infectious happiness wormed into Jonathon as well and the two proceeded to try and make him laugh as much as possible. Although he doubted that the young girl they picked up really knew what she was doing, he was happy that his fellow adventurer was making an effort to keep his mind off of recent events. It felt like a slightly dysfunctional family.

With the distraction from his thoughts, the journey breezed by in what felt like a matter of minutes. It was only as he cast his eyes away from the currently joking Jonathon and Mia that he saw the city of Atraxia beginning to loom in the distance. Although they were still a distance away, he could see that there were people moving in and out of the city as civilisation seemed to increase.

Finding the nearest road leading directly to their destination, both Jonathon and Finn gasped in awe as they got steadily closer to the city and more details were beginning to slowly phase in. The most defining feature, however, was the walls of the city. Not only was the entire place surrounded by some seemingly unassailable ramparts, but there were another two pairs of inner walls, creating three large rings.

According to Mia, each section of the city had a different purpose. The first section was mainly for the peasantry to live. It was mainly just some reasonably well-made houses with taverns and a smattering of shops thrown in to try and make the place feel more homely. The second ring was mainly for agriculture. Although it was unclear how they managed it, the local populous had managed to make themselves self-sustaining by growing all sorts of fruits and vegetables as well raising their own animals. It was a feat that not many knew how to do anymore. A grand market also stood in the ring, designed to cater to the every need their customers may have. From magic shops to potions, to smithing, the market had it all for the right price.

The final section belonged to the wealthy and the nobility. Although Mia had never seen it with her own eyes, she had heard rumours of mansions beyond the common folks wildest dreams, shops that made you the envy of your peers, with always updating fashionable clothes and the most expensive food. And at the centre of all the grandeur stood the palace.

Atraxia was apparently run by a royal family and their advisors, making the palace their obvious home and meeting place to discuss new policies in the comfort of their wealth, and safety of their guarded walls.

As they travelled down the road and approached the city they noticed more and more people seemed to be crossing their paths, all of them giving the two adventurers strange glances. Although this did not seem to faze Mia at all, Finn and even Jonathon were starting to feel a little self-conscious at the attention.

"They've probably never seen people like us before," Jonathon whispered to his friend as the group got ever closer to one of the few entrances to the city. Leaning back slowly so as to not arouse suspicion, the young hero whispered back.

"I guessed they haven't, but have you ever seen a city as big as this? Ooo has nothing that compares to this." Taking a thoughtful look at the walls, Jonathon slipped into his mind for a moment before coming back out a confused smile on his face.

"It's a little fuzzy in my mind but I think I've might have while travelling when I was younger, but still after spending so long in more uncivilised lands, seeing this is still impressive." Finn nodded at the words of the archer as he continued to gaze in awe at the sheer size of Atraxia. He was so engrossed, he failed to see that his group had reached the entrance to the city and the two spears suddenly appearing to bar their path and deny them entry.

Looking over in surprise, Finn was shocked to see two fully armed guards, similar to the appearance of Mia glaring at him suspiciously, they motioned their makeshift group to the side, allowing passage for the people behind them while keeping their eyes narrowed on them.

"Who are you and what is your business here? We've never seen anyone like you two before." It shocked the Teenager to hear this, while he was certainly unique in Ooo, they all knew who he was by sight. It was an entirely new experience to have this level of mistrust directed at him. Luckily for him, however, Jonathon seemed better equipped to deal with this sort of thing, stepping forward the archer was quick to address the guards.

"Hi there, we're travellers coming from quite a distance away. We happened to stumble onto one of your nearby villages and found it totally destroyed with only one survivor." Beckoning for Mia to come forward the young child obliged, shyly stepping up before taking hold of Jonathon's hand as she gave both the guards a shy glance.

"We were just in time to save her from what appeared to be some magically risen undead, she pointed us here in hopes of finding her parents and spreading word of this attack on a peaceful settlement." This last part seemed to have a dark reaction on the two guards. Withdrawing from the group to talk, the two muttered to themselves for a while, making both Mia and Finn slightly nervous. Jonathon, however, looked unfazed by the ordeal, comforting their youngest companion by placing his hand on her shoulder. Soon the guards finished their discussion, moving back to address the group about what was to happen.

"There have been other reports of different locations being attacked, all recently as well. It's beginning to make some of the locals twitchy. If another place has been hit, the captain will probably want to know about it. You're coming to talk to him first before we let you loose in the city."

Without waiting for a reply the guard that spoke walked into the city, leaving the small group to stand around awkwardly for a moment as he made his way back to the barracks. Realising they were meant to be following, they quickly rushed after him, determined not to lose sight of the fast moving guard.

Although it appeared to be more of a struggle to keep their eyes off of the city they had just walked into. The amount of people bustling about was astonishing. What was really impressive, however, was the fact that none of them seemed to have a clear destination in mind. Luckily the guard ahead seemed to slow down, realising that they were more than likely not used to being in this type of enclosed environment. This gave the small group plenty of time to gap at the sheer amount of activity that was going on.

There were street vendors desperately trying to sell their wares, yelling above the din trying to, outdo one another with prices that fluctuated depending on who was nearby. Street performances seemed to be quite a common occurrence. There were dancers twirling around as they spun to the music of different instruments being played around them, enthralling the ground in their unspoken language as they conveyed a story that could only be told in their own special art form.

There were other storytellers too. Further on down the road, there were actors performing in a minimalistic play, voices rising dramatically as they performed to the absolute pinnacle of their ability. If the guard was not so determined to get to his location as quickly as possible, the group may have had a chance to sit down and watch some of these performances. All of them seemed intriguing and to Finn, he had never seen anything of the sort before.

Looking back longingly as a woman cradled a dead-looking man, crying out in anguish before she stabbed herself right through the heart with a fake knife, Finn hurried to catch up to his still fast moving group. As he sent his gaze elsewhere, his eye happened to catch a flash of metal. Hurriedly looking over to the source he found a man wrapped in a hooded cloak, fading into the shadows of a nearby side road. He was just about to call out and say something before a hand gripped his shoulder firmly. Turning he found Jonathon looking on at the scene as well, his face dark with the realisation of what happened as another man who happened to be in front of the shadowed figure frantically tried to find his purse.

"I know what you're thinking, but don't say a word. We're still new here and can't afford to stand out just yet. You'll always get people like that guy in a more populated area, comes with the territory of living in a city. People always prefer the more thrilling ways of making money." Looking at his companion with a hint of distaste, Finn nodded his understanding once before turning away causing Jonathon to sigh to himself.

Luckily Mia appeared to have not seen anything and soon reached up for the archer's hand, grasping it gently and sending a smile his way. Scooping up the young girl back onto his shoulders Jonathon quickly started up a conversation with her, making her laugh as they proceeded through the city, leaving Finn alone to his thoughts. Luckily he was not inside of his own mind for long.

The group were soon stopped outside a large, imposing building. It stuck out amongst the throng of other normal brick houses its sheer walls made entirely of black stone, looking unnaturally intimidating in comparison to the dwarfed houses in its surroundings. Finn had to admit it was quite the intimidating sight.

Not that the guard seemed to care, with no delay to admire the structure, he was inside before the group knew it, leaving them all stood outside wondering what to do. It was only a matter of seconds before the guard's face reappeared around the corner, a scowl set on it.

"Well I haven't got all day, come on inside, quickly now!" This gave them the jump they needed to get moving. Quickly jogging into the building, they stopped for a second to let their eyes adjust to the new light level of light.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be a lack of light in all directions, it seemed that the price of having this gigantic black building was that it seemed to absorb any light that got in, leaving a permanently gloomy interior. However, before they could take a proper look at their surroundings, the guard once again took the lead and began to guide them into what they felt was the centre of the building.

Seemingly coming to a corridor with only one room, in the end, the guard quickly moved to it, making it clear they had finally reached their destination. Gesturing them all inside a rather spacious office, they were greeted to a grizzled, imposing man sat behind a simple yet large desk.

Scars ran their way over his face and out of sight into his plate armour. The lower half of his face was wild with hair, leaving his beard untamed as his scowl landed on the new arrivals who had entered his office. Getting to his feet, the man took a long stroll to the front of his desk arms folding together over his muscled chest as watched on with two jet black eyes matching the colour of his hair, although those did not have the streaks of white that his mane had.

"I take it there is a reason for this interruption and it better be a damn good one I'm a busy man!" It did not escape the notice of the group that this man was even taller than Jonathon. This was not a person you wanted to cross by any means necessary. The guard, seeming to know this more than anyone currently in the room, stepped forward, a look of apprehension on his face. Eyeing the slightly trembling man in front of him, the intimidating figure was quick to get to the point. "Aiden isn't it? Well, what's wrong boy? Speak quickly!"

The now named guard snapped to attention, looking directly forward as he reeled off his speech as quickly as possible.

"Sir, we stopped these two at the gates, sir. They said they wanted to get into the city to help find the little girl's parents and that they had news about another attack sir. I Thought it would be best if I brought they straight to you to judge them."

The man looked at his guard, before turning his eyes to study the new arrivals, not stopping the slight second of surprise that on closer inspection, the two in front of him were an entirely different race than he was. However, that was quickly covered up as his scowl returned in full force as the weight of the words fell upon him.

"I see... You're dismissed Aiden. Return to your post, I'll deal with this." Nodding once at his order, the guard left the room in a hurry. Sighing to himself the man made his way back behind his desk, retaking his seat before once again eyeing the new arrivals. Beckoning them forward his gravely voice reached out to them.

"I apologise for the welcome but in these times it's an important necessity. Our more isolated villages have been getting attacked for the better part of the year and we've had no idea how to stop it or even why it's happening. There are rarely any survivor's and those that do, are usually too in shock to talk about it. They must have seen some scarring things to get to that level of trauma."

He paused briefly as he let his memories take control for a second, however, he soon focused back on the conversation at hand. "Anyway, I'm Dexion, Captain of the guard for all of Atraxia and responsible for keeping our little kingdom safe. This is why you were barred from entering the city. No offence but we've never met people like you two before and my men were ordered to apprehend anyone looking suspicious for leads. However your little one over there probably got you this meeting."

Mia scooted closer to Jonathon gripping onto his leg as she looked into the face of Dexion, intimidation clear on her face at the very sight of the Goliath stood in front of her. Deciding to not worry the child, the Captain turned to Finn to continue their discussion. "So, like Aiden said, I heard you've got news of another damn attack?"

"Yeah, we were just minding our own business when Jonathon found tracks that led straight to a village. Erm, we never actually got the name did we?" Both Jonathon and Finn paused for a second as they realised they never asked Mia the name of her village. All eyes turned to the young girl who sheltered herself further behind the archer's legs.

"Sil...Silverdane."

The name seemed to resonate with Dexion, his gaze softening before going to study Mia more intently. Some inner thought alerted him to something and his eyes widened slightly as he leant forward in his chair, calling out to the afraid girl.

"Silverdane eh? Been a while since I was there last, tell me do you know Erik and Sofia?" Mia seemed to perk up at the mention of these names, a smile visibly appearing as she hesitantly took a couple of steps forward.

"Y..yeah I know them. They're my momma and papa! I know they came here before, before..." Her eyes went downcast as the reminder of the fate of her village swelled in her brain, tears started to leak from her eyes before Dexion cut her off before she could really get started.

"It's okay, we'll sort everything out. As it happens your parents are old friends of mine, came to see me not too long ago for a brief catch up. They're staying at the Windsail Inn in the tourist section. It's probably the one Aiden took you through as you walked through our first ring, y'know? The one with all the performers?"

Mia actively jumped up and down in happiness, pulling on Jonathon's hand, yanking the unfortunate man down to her level although he seemed not to mind overly much as he laughed alongside her, joining her in the childish celebrations.

Even Dexion had a hard time not smiling at the pair's antics, although Finn could tell he was cracking. Before the smile could appear on his face the Captain of the guard quickly called out to his friend's daughter.

"Mia." The girl immediately slipped back into being her usual shy self, however, she seemed to have relaxed around the man as she moved up to the front of his desk, her eyes wide in childish innocence and slight confusion. Picking up on her questioning glance, Dexion soon provided the answer to the unasked question.

"Your parents told me your name when they came to see me. Couldn't stop talking about how precious their daughter was." This got a giggle out of the small girl as she beamed back at the now smiling man. "You have the look of both of them in you that's how I guessed it may have been you. Luckily I was right."

Dexion sat back in his chair before yelling, surprising everyone in the room at the sudden change. "Holand get in here!"

A rather nondescript guard entered and saluted smartly as his Captain gave him his orders.

"Go to the King and tell him this, Silverdane has fallen, it was attacked in much the same way as the others. Off you go now, make sure it gets there quickly." The man moved swiftly off out of the office and what they imagined was outside towards the third ring. Looking over to the three still in his office, he spoke once again.

"Mia if you would wait outside for a moment please, I'd like to talk to one of these gentlemen for a moment." The young girl nodded happily before bouncing out of the room Jonathon volunteering to keep her company and leave whatever discussion was left to Finn.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't Finn." The Archer called over his shoulder as he vanished out of the door with a wave of his hand. Leaving the young hero and the captain to themselves. Dexion studied the young man in front of him intensely before resuming their conversation.

"You never told me the full details, I guess I acted hastily sending Holand off without the full story but I didn't want the young one crying over what's happened. Now then tell me the full story."

Finn took a moment to compose himself before he launched back into the full account of their travels from the approach to Silverdane and onwards to Atraxia.

"As I said, the other guy, Jonathon, found tracks that led to the village. when we got close we saw smoke and rushed forward to see if we could help, however, the town had burned and the people were already dead. Whoever did it didn't let a single dude live not even any of the kids. The only person who was alive was Mia being chased by a couple of undead villagers. We dealt with them but they turned out to be her auntie and uncle."

Dexion's face morphed into a look of rage for a split second before he schooled it into a stoic expression. He spoke up, cutting off the explanation in order to finish it early.

"She brought you here to find her parents and give us the news of the attack, am I correct?" Finn nodded at the Captain as he sighed before sitting back heavily in his chair, gazing at the roof of his office.

"He was a good man, Mia's uncle. Fought alongside me and his brother in the war. This is probably going to devastate Erik and Sofia." He slammed his hand down onto his desk as he let his fury out in the only manner he knew how.

Finn flinched slightly at the volume, his mind starting wandering back to the sheer devastation he was greeted with as they entered Silverdane. The eyes of Mia's auntie and uncle were staring right at him, unblinking as they ate into his very being. Lying still on the ground where they left them to rot. Forcing himself to focus on the present, Finn looked directly into Dexion's eyes before speaking with a fire he had not used since he started this journey.

"Let me and Jonathon track down this punk, we'll capture him in no time." The captain of the guard stood up to his full height, coming round the table to eye Finn as he circled him, taking in every detail he could and committing them to memory.

"You seem young, but determined. I won't lie my men haven't had any luck in tracking whoever is responsible for this down, and we can't afford to send anyone else. Hells I'd be out searching if I could, but that isn't possible. Can I count on you two to do this?" Finn nodded straight away eager to get underway.

Dexion eyed him one more time before dismissing him before returning back to his desk to pull some papers to read through.

"Go then and know that the whole city will be grateful if you pull this off. Make sure you return Mia to Erik and Sofia for me, if I know this city the rumours would have spread about Silverdane already. Holand isn't known to keep his mouth shut unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised if most people in the first ring already know what has happened. Thank you for the extra information, I'll send messages out with the new details to our guards in the villagers and the people searching for the culprit."

As Finn moved to the door to leave, Dexion said one last thing.

"Good luck Finn."

Leaving the office he spotted Mia animatedly telling Jonathon about her parents as the archer looked on smiling at her enthusiasm. As the young hero approached, his friends looked up both giving him a smile as he stood beside them.

"Well now that we're clear to explore the city shall we take this one back to her parents, I'm pretty sure she's looking forward to seeing them." Finn happily agreed as Mia bounded on ahead, skipping along calling for her two friends to hurry as they rushed back out the building and back onto the streets.

Stopping a passerby for directions the group made their way back towards Windsail Inn once again filtering through the still active crowds however the general atmosphere was drastically different this time around. People stood in groups looking around in worry as the spoke in hushed whispers. Even the performers from before seemed to have stopped, gathering in their troupes to talk all looking anxious. It became obvious when the group overheard a not so hushed whisper.

"I can't believe it, Silverdane? I'd have never have guessed that would go next." It seemed that Dexion was right, the rumour had spread so rapidly that it seemed that everyone in the ring knew. Finn idly thought the city must constantly be on high alert if news spread this fast. It appeared that Mia was oblivious though, the excitement of seeing her parents was obviously taking up all her attention. Finn sent a quiet 'thank you' to Glob, that their companion was spared the worst of the rumours.

Luckily with everyone preoccupied it became easier to navigate to their destination and in no time, thanks to the stranger's instructions, they made it to Windsail Inn. Opening the door and walking in the group made its way straight to the barkeep who seemed intent on cleaning the mug currently in her hands, the atmosphere inside matching what they had seen outside.

"Excuse me miss? We're looking for a man called Erik and his wife called Sofia, we were told we'd find them here." Looking up to view the group that had approached, the woman's eyes stayed on Jonathon before giving him an answer.

"I'm afraid they've requested to not to be disturbed, they just got news of their home being attacked and rumour is there were no survivors. I think they had family there, so if you don't mind this will have to wait." She was about to look back down when Jonathon cleared his throat, causing the barkeep to give him a look of annoyance, but before she could voice her displeasure, the archer stepped in.

"I understand that miss, however, I'm afraid that we have to insist. This is simply too important to be left for any other time. If you would just fetch them all would be made clear." She eyed him again with a look of slight loathing however she seemed to realise that the group in front of her weren't going to leave until they got what they wanted. Sighing in defeat she moved from behind the bar and made her way towards a staircase at the side of the room, calling over her shoulder as she went.

"Just stay here I'll be back in a minute." And so they stood there waiting. It took a few minutes but soon they heard yelling coming from upstairs. Heavy footfalls sounded throughout the inn, drawing the attention of the patrons, all eyes on the stairs as an angry voice was soon heard.

"Who do they think they are demanding that they speak to us when we're in mourning, do they lack any common decency? Why do they have to demand to see us now." A man soon appeared at the top of the stairs, racing down to meet the group as a woman appeared behind him only a few seconds later.

"Please calm down Erik, they said it was important, we don't know what they might want." The man spun around, stopping his descent halfway before addressing his wife. "Calm down Sofia? Any person would have realised that we were not to be disturbed but they _insisted_ that it was 'more important' than our wishes. No, I'm not going to 'calm down'." Spinning back around Erik practically hopped the remaining stairs, landing right in front of the group before eyeing both Finn and Jonathon with a glare that would cause even the sternest man to tremble. His wife joining him a few moments later, casting worried glances at the two men and her husband.

"And who in the hells are you? You demanded that we come and talk well here we are, so come on what do you want!?" Erik practically spat out at the two. Being unsure how to deal with this situation Finn stood there blankly trying to process what to do, even Jonathon seemed surprised at the level of rage they were receiving. Recovering as quickly as he could the archer was about to step forward and speak however a small voice cut him off before he could muster a word.

"Momma? Papa?" Mia muscled her way forward past her two companions to come face to face with the two shocked faces of her parents. Silence fell throughout the inn. Everyone just processing what was happening as the quiet stretched onward.

"Mia?" The young girl watched as tears sprang to her mother's eyes as she stepped forward in front of her still in shock husband. Hearing her name said by the most important woman in her life caused a sob to come out of the girl's mouth. Surging forward, she buried herself in the stomach of Sofia crying her heart out as she finally let out all the held in emotions she had from all she had seen in the short span of time since they were last together.

"Oh, my sweet baby, my sweet baby girl!" Sofia collapsed to her knees desperately grasping her daughter in her arms as she let all of her restraints go and wailed in the middle of the inn not caring who saw as she hugged her daughter closer to her body.

"Mia! My little Angel! Oh thank the Gods, thank the Gods!" And with that Erik joined his family, pulling his wife and daughter to him for a family hug as his own tears mixed with those of his loved ones, all three weeping tears of joy at reunion none thought possible.

Jonathon and Finn could only watch, tears in their own eyes as the reunion played out in front of them.

"Jonathon?"

"Yeah?"

"I volunteered us to track down whoever attacked the village." There was a brief pause before the archer answered.

"Didn't I tell you not to do something I wouldn't do?" There was no heat to his words. The two remained silent, watching as the family all clung to each other basking in the presence that only a family could provide.

"Jonathon?"

"Yeah?"

"We'll find whoever did this won't we?" The archer's eyes never left the sight in front of him, even as he answered with a fire burning in his very words.

"Yeah... We'll find the bastard, don't you worry."

* * *

 **Yeah, I have no excuses for being away this long. The fact that it's been almost a year is pretty shocking even by my standard. But at least we have a new chapter! No? Okay, I'll shut up now...**

 **Thank you for waiting this long though, I'll be honest and say it wasn't at the top of my to-do list but some recent reviews reminded me that it's still wanted so I kind of went gung-ho over the past week and finished it.**

 **This story was also placed inside of a community, just so you know I think that's awesome! Feel free to my stories to any community you want! (It can even be one for really terrible stories if you want, It'll give me a good laugh!)**

 **This chapter had a whole load of references and I'm intrigued to know if anyone can get them all! (You won't as I kind of made one impossible) but give it a try anyway!**

 **On to the reviews!:**

 **DJ Rodriguez - Just thanks for being so patient man! I really appreciate it. I swear if this was a real story you'd probably be the person I dedicated it for!**

 **The Book of Eli - I won't say much but I will say this, I have it all planned out! (by that I mean I have a vague idea that could go horribly wrong)**

 **Tman2016 - I'm not going to lie you saved this story. I don't think I would have abandoned it but I slowed down production of the next chapter, it probably would have been a long time coming if you didn't kick me up the butt, so thank you! And thank you for the kind words!**

 **Guest - It's right here you don't have to beg anymore! But if you're interested I have an update bit on my profile, so check there to see how much is finished and what's going on!**

 **Thank you all again for being patient I really hope this lives up to some form of small expectation. Until next time!**


End file.
